Time Lines
by UchihaBabe92
Summary: Sasuke and Sakura have been keeping secrets from their two children, Tachi and Taro. When Tachi befriends a replacement from Suna, she must hide an inevitable romance, go through the treturous chuunin exams and face 3 S-ranked criminals. SxS NxT NxH SxI
1. Prologue

**/AN: Okay so this is my first fanfiction. Just a lil info: there will be a prequel. I'm not sure about a sequel. I shall talk to my friend and partner Crystal first./**

**Crystal: Uh, yeah.**

**Me: When did you get here?**

**Crystal: The same time Neji and Itachi got here. Just a few seconds ago.**

**Me: ITACHI-SAMA *glomps***

**Itachi: I will kill you.**

**Me: I don't care. I shall do your bidding. What must I do, Itachi-sama?**

**Itachi: Go out and bring my foolish brother to me and kill him.**

**Me: Ugh. Let me do the stinking disclaimer first. Neji, you're all silent in a corner. Would you mind doing the disclaimer?**

**Neji: *sigh* Why must destiny torture me so?**

**Me: Oh stop complaining and get it over with.**

**Neji: Fine. Caitlin and Crystal don't own Naruto.**

**Sasuke: YES THAT'S RIGHT! I DO! *evil laugh***

**All except Sasuke: 0_0...**

**Me: Well, I didn't realize your brother was gay, Itachi-sama.**

**Itachi: I didn't either. This was unexpected.**

**Sasuke: I'm not gay. I own Naruto cuz he's an idiot and he can't take care of himself.**

**Me: Okay moving right along. On with the story! R&R please!/**

Prologue

The sun shone brilliantly, over Konohagakure. Children piled out of the ninja academy with pride, eager to tell their parents what they had learned with their sensei. Shops and restaurants were alive with the bustle of busy villagers all ready for the day to be done. However on this day the Hokage and his wife, and most of the original rookie nine gathered around in a cramped hospital room to welcome a new addition to a once powerful clan.

Uchiha Tachi would be her name. She was born to Uchiha Sasuke and Sakura. Yes this story follows the same story line that it would normally follow. The Uchiha clan was still demolished by Uchiha Itachi and Sasuke still left all of those years ago. But how do we end up here you ask? Sakura smiled at the memory.

_/Flashback/_

Sakura, Sai, and Kakashi stood at the gates of Konoha eagerly awaiting the returning ANBU squad that had been gone for two months now. On the mission was Hyuuga Neji, Akimichi Choji, Naara Shikamaru, Uzumaki Naruto and Inuzuka Kiba. Well, these are the people they left with. But a tall figure stood in the middle of the group, his head bowed low so that no one could see his face. The mission was a retrieval mission for Uchiha Sasuke, the last retrieval mission anyone would do for this man. And after so many years they had been successful.

Sasuke had come on his own will, mostly because he was too injured to argue. "Sakura, I know you probably want to kill him right now, but he needs your help." Kakashi said.

Sakura sighed in defeat. She knew her ex sensei was right. "Fine. But when he's healed I call first dibs on kicking his rear end." Sakura said walking to the nearly lifeless body of Uchiha Sasuke.

Low and behold, Sasuke healed rather quickly and as promised, Sakura kicked the Uchiha's butt hard, killed his ego and completely smashed his pride. And then he was healed again, by the same person, internal bleeding and all.

_Time skip_

Sasuke and Sakura had been dating for almost a year and a half, Sasuke had just turned 21 and Sakura was 20. Nobody had thought that they should be together, not even Naruto. But Naruto knew that if Sasuke had tried something, he would end up six feet under in a cemetery; courtesy of Sakura herself.

Their wedding night was beautiful. It was small and only consisted of Sakura's parents, the Rookie 9 and the Hokage, Tsunade - who would step down in about a week or so leaving Naruto to take her place. It took place after the sun had set and was outside.

Ino, Shikamaru, Naruto, Hinata, Neji, TenTen, Temari, Kankuro, Gaara and his wife Matsuri, had fixed and cleaned up the Uchiha District as a huge wedding present. Sasuke himself nearly broke down upon seeing his old home look so nice, that and the terrifying memories that came along with it.

Not even a month later, Sakura came to Sasuke and told him that she was pregnant with their first child. July 13 the bundle arrived and was wrapped in a large, soft, blue blanket. They named him Taro Fugaku Uchiha after Sasuke's father.

Like the idiot that he is, Naruto bet Kakashi that Sakura would be pregnant again with in the next few months. Kakashi thought differently and said that the next child wouldn't arrive for at least another few years. Alas, Kakashi lost the bet, epically. Sakura was pregnant three months later.

Which leaves us to the present time.

_/Flashback end/_

It was July 13th again. Yes Sakura had given birth to Tachi on Taro's first birthday. It was unexpected and rare, but they were happy none-the-less.

"Pay up old man." Naruto said giddily, putting his hand out palm up in front of Kakashi. "I won the bet, fair and square. Tachi-chan was born on the exact date of this bet, which means, since Sakura-chan was full term when she gave birth to Tachi-chan, Tachi-chan's conception date was three months after Taro-chibi was born. Therefore, I win. So, fork it."

"You just can't get enough of saying Tachi can you?" Kakashi said, glancing over to where Sasuke was sitting, holding his newborn daughter.

"No I can't. I could just see Sasuke-teme beating all of the boys away with TenTen's stolen weapons." Naruto said smiling.

Kakashi gawked. "TenTen's... stolen... weapons...?" Naruto nodded.

"You really think that Sasuke-teme is going to use his own?" The blonde said skeptically. "His exact words, 'No boy who wants to date Tachi is worth my blade. I'll steal from TenTen's stash if I have to. But never in my life, will a boy ever see my blade slash across his skin.' " He mimicked darkly.

"Dobe, I can hear everything you're saying." Sasuke growled softly, as not to wake the sleeping baby in his arms.

Before Naruto could answer, a nurse came in to usher everyone but family out because it was after visiting hours and it was late. Hinata carried a sleeping Taro in her arms. "Let's g-go home Naruto-kun." She said softly.

"Well, good night Naruto." Kakashi said, poofing off to Lord knows where.

"Wait." Naruto paused to think. "THAT OLD MAN FORGOT TO PAY ME!" Almost immediately after, a wail could be heard through out the hospital room.

"Dobe! You woke Tachi, better hope Sakura doesn't wake up or she'll-"

"NARUTO! WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE I SWEAR I'LL MURDER YOU!" Sakura rasped, her eyes half open and her throat sore from screaming for eight teen hours.

"Aw, fudge." Naruto sighed, running for his life. Sasuke was chasing him and Ino was holding Tachi.

**/AN: Okay. So that's it for now. I will try to post a new chapter next week. No promises.**

**Crystal: We are slow... and plus with all of the characters... we get confused easily.**

**Me: Yeah no doubt.**

**Crystal: R&R please.**

**Me: On the next disclaimer, Deidara and Tobi will be our guests! Yay.**

**Crystal: And don't forget Neji, Caitlin.**

**Me: Yes, yes, we mustn't forget the Hyuuga. Oh yeah, Neji and Itachi-sama are permanent... and will be in later chapters. THANKS!**


	2. Stationed

**/AN: Okay so here's the official first chapter of Time Lines. **

**Crystal: Yay!**

**Me: yes, right.**

**Deidara: are we going to do the disclaimer, un?**

**Crystal: yes. OH bad news: Neji couldn't make it. That just ruined my day.**

**Me: Aw, don't feel bad, Crystal. Itachi-sama isn't here either. He's battling Sasuke. GO ITACHI-SAMA!**

**Me and Crystal: We believe in you!**

***elsewhere: Itachi sneezes and get's scraped by one of Sasuke's freakish claws***

**Tobi: Tobi is a good boy!**

**Deidara: Tobi, shush, yeah.**

**Tobi: Good boy?**

**Me: Deidara-san will you do the disclaimer because this chat is kinda point less.**

**Deidara: Sure, un. Caitlin-sama and Crystal-baa-chan don't own Naruto. Leader-sama does.**

**Crystal: I'm not that old! Permission to chase Deidara and try to kill him?**

**Me: Go ahead.**

**Crystal: Yay!**

**Deidara: Oh crap. *goes boom***

**Crystal: *poof and disappears***

**Tobi: R&R plz!**

**Me: :P**

"Tachi! Wait up." Uchiha Tachi turned to see her teammates and friends Uzumaki-Hyuuga Renji and Hyuuga Kenji.

Renji was Naruto and Hinata's son. He looked like his father. The same blonde hair and the same blue eyes. He acted a lot like Naruto, but at times could be just like Hinata when it came to girls. Renji wasn't as clueless when it came to girls. Like Hinata, he inherited the byakugan. He was fifteen and was born not long after Tachi.

Kenji had TenTen's brown hair and Neji's lavender eyes. He had a knack for weapons and was skilled when using the byakugan. He was sixteen and was born a few months before Taro.

Tachi had Sasuke's raven hair and Sakura's eyes. She had exception chakra control and was skilled in genjutsu and ninjutsu but lacks in taijutsu. She gained the sharingan at an early age. She was fifteen and in a about a few weeks she would turn sixteen

The three of them together plus their leader, Kakashi, formed Team Seven.

"What's up knuckle head? Kenji?" Tachi asked, her arms behind her head.

"First off, Tachi, I'm not a knuckle head. I'm a blonde head. Secondly, Tou-san wants us for something." Renji said, glaring. Renji looked like his father. The same blonde hair and the same blue eyes. He didn't have the whisker like markings on his face or a demon lying inside of him.

"You have no respect for your father's title do you? Jeeze Renji you'd think that as the Hokage's son, you'd have at least some respect for your elders." Tachi replied, as they headed for the Hokage's Tower.

"I have plenty of respect, Tachi. What're you talking about?" Renji exclaimed.

Tachi rolled her eyes at the orange wearing ninja. "Whatever you say, Dobe." She turned to Kenji. "So how's it going Kenji? You're so quiet."

"Life's good. I guess I can't really complain. Hikari is beginning to have hormones for... unworthy shinobi. She's become rather annoying, actually." Kenji replied, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Be lucky you have a sister. All I have is my idiotic brother for now until Suichiro learns to talk in a real manner." Tachi's eyes lit up. "Hey I'll trade Taro for Hikari. How bout is Kenji?" She said, jokingly, jabbing Kenji in the ribs with her elbow.

"I don't think Tou-san would like it if Taro left blood stains all over the house." Kenji said, his eye twitching at the thought of Taro being at his house. "Nor would I think Sasuke-sama would like it if Taro was in the hospital missing out on missions."

"Nah, Tou-san won't mind. Just don't bloody Aniki up too bad, okay Kenji?" Tachi requested.

"Right..." Kenji stated sarcastically.

They arrived at the Hokage tower not long after the conversation ended. Tachi was the first to walk in. "Hokage-sama, Tou-san, Kazekage-sama." She said giving a respectful bow.

"Tachi-chan." The Hokage replied, giving a slight bow back.

Renji bound through the door. "Old man! Watcha need us for?" He said pointing the finger of doom in the hokage's general direction.

Tachi hit Renji over the head, a vein slightly revealing itself in her forehead. "Baka! Show the hokage respect, dobe!"

Renji cowered in fear. "He's my dad! he's used to it, Tachi-sama!" Tachi cracked her knuckles.

_**"Cha! This'll teach him to disrespect the hokage!" **_Inner Tachi was ready to fight in the subconscious of Tachi's mind.

"So now he shows respect. No offence Hokage-sama, but your son's an idiot." Kenji said, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

Naruto smiled. "No offence taken, Kenji." He folded his hands in front of his mouth. "In all honesty," a crash was heard and Naruto's smile faded as he continued, "Renji is just like me when I was 12."

"No kidding." Sasuke mumbled.

"I DON'T CARE IF HE WAS YOUR GRANDFATHER'S BUNEON! YOU SHOULD STILL SHOW RESPECT TO YOUR HOKAGE!" Tachi seethed.

Sasuke sweat dropped as Tachi threw a screaming Renji into Naruto's desk. "Sometimes I swear she has more of a temper than her mother." he thought out loud. "Sorry Naruto. Just take it out of her check."

Naruto sat in his chair in the same position. "Don't sweat it, Sasuke-teme. Just discipline your daughter will yah?"

Sasuke sighed. "Uchiha Tachi!" his voice rang out in the office. Before Tachi could answer, another voice was added to the group.

"What did Tachi-nii-chan do now?" Taro Uchiha entered with his eyes closed. He opened the. "Kuso." Taro had hair that stuck up in the same funky was that Sasuke's was in. He had raven hair and onyx eyes. Sasuke and Taro looked like clones so much infact that Naruto often called Taro, Sasuke-chibi. Taro was sixteen. He had achieved sharingan a few days after Tachi did.

Sasuke glared at his first born. "Taro, watch your mouth."

"Sure, Tou-san." The eldest Uchiha child said, completely brushing off his father's demand. "Did Tachi do this?" Renji nodded, painfully. "Impressive."

"Taro, your sister is really strong. It's almost scary." Misa said quietly. Misa was Naruto and Hinata's daughter. She had Hinata's long lavender hair but Naruto's blue eyes. She was fifteen; Misa and Renji are twins.

"Aniki, what're you doing here?" Tachi asked, dropping her victim ruthlessly.

"I could ask you the same thing, Tachi-nii-chan."

"Sasuke-chibi! Tachi-chan! Focus!" Naruto said, still acting as if his desk was still standing.

Next to arrive was Hikari Hyuuga and Kana Naara.

Hikari is Neji and TenTen's daughter. She had brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. She's fourteen. Hikari has loads of weapons she uses in combat. Combined with a hyper activeness and the weapons she can be dangerous at times. She has not yet awakened the byakugan trait.

Kana is Ino and Shikamaru's daughter. She has blonde hair and brown eyes. She's fourteen. Her and Hikari are best friends. Like her parents, she uses shadows and mind control.

"Okay, now that we're all here, I'll let Gaara take over." Naruto said.

Gaara nodded. "As you all know, on the last mission you had, Inuzuka Kazu and Inuzuka Riki were poisoned by rogue ninja and passed away before help could reach them." The genin's faces looked grim. "My son, Hiro and my daughter, Chihiro, have agreed to take their place."

Chihiro had sandy blonde hair and teal eyes. She was sixteen. Her hair was put up into two pony tails that kind of reminded Gaara of how Temari wore her hair. Her robes were black with a red sash across her waist. Over it was her hetai-aetai with the Sand Village symbol etched into the plate. She stayed silent but gave a respectful bow. "Chihiro will be assigned to Team 8 with Hyuuga Hikari and Naara Kana."

Next was Hiro. Sasuke harrumphed as he watched Tachi's eyes sparkle with admiration. Hiro looked a lot like Gaara. He was sixteen, making him and Chihiro twins. Same hair color and eye color. His hair reached halfway to his shoulders. Kind of like Gaara's did when he was 15. His shirt was placed over his left shoulder and his well sculpted chest was glistening with sweat as if he had been training all day. The "love" tattoo was placed on his right shoulder and he had a tattoo of the Sand Village symbol on his neck. "Hiro will be assigned to Team 10, with Uchiha Taro, and Uzumaki-Hyuuga Misa." It was then that everyone in the room notice that Taro and Hiro was having a glare fest.

"Okay, training at three, people. Dismissed." Naruto instructed. Every one except, Misa, Tachi, Kana, Naruto, and Sasuke left.

"Did you see Hiro's chest? Kami, he's beautiful!" Tachi exclaimed with a smile.

"Don't even think about it Uchiha Tachi. He's 16 and too old for you." Sasuke said, leaning on the window seal. Tachi rolled her eyes. She was 15 and clearly able to defend herself if necessary. Sides, what did her old man know about Hiro other than his father and age?

"Sure thing, Tou-san. Oh and you might wanna turn off your Sharingan." Tachi replied, giggling. Sasuke grunted in response but complied.

"You're a psycho Tachi. Your brother is sexier than Hiro." Misa said, quietly.

"You like Taro?" Tachi practically yelled. Misa nodded as they heard a devious, maniacal laughter from behind them.

"Sasuke-teme... we're going to be in-laws..." Naruto said. Sasuke's eyes twitched.

"Are you kidding? You're both wrong! Hideki Ryouga is so much hotter than both Hiro and Taro!" Kana said, loudly.

"If you think he's sexy... you should see my SEXY JUTSU!" Naruto made some hand signs as a puff of smoke was made. When the smoke cleared, the beautiful naked woman known as Nara appeared.

"TOU-SAN! PUT THAT AWAY!" Misa cried.

"Dear Kami, dobe... aren't you a little old to be doing that retarded jutsu?" Sasuke asked.

"Sasuke-teme, its not retarded! In the words of both Kakashi-sensei and Pervy Sage - Kami rest his soul- it's a work of art!" Naruto replied, ignoring the yelling coming from his daughter. Tachi backed out and went home, quietly.

-x- x- x - Tachi - x - x - x -

Tachi walked through the door of the Uchiha main house. "Hello? Tou-san! Kaa-san! Anyone home?" She called, kicking off her shoes and leaving them by the door. "In the kitchen Tachi-chan!" A female voice replied. Tachi quickly found her way to the kitchen. There she found a middle aged pink haired woman she knew as her mother, Uchiha Sakura.

"Kaa-san did Tou-san go back to the Academy?" Tachi asked looking to her baby sister who sat in the high chair at the end of the table, gurgling happily.

Sakura nodded. "Tachi can you hand Suichiro to me please?" The Uchiha did as she was told.

"Okay I'm gonna go get ready for training." Tachi said going up to her room. Quickly, she undressed and changed into her training clothes. She looked herself over. Tachi's head band was around her waist. She wore wrappings that went from her chest to her waist and a black midriff t-shirt with the Uchiha crest on the back. She wore a black skort that only went mid thigh. Her kunai holster was on the right leg. On her arms were more wrappings and belts that looked much like what Sasuke wore during the chuunin exams. Lastly Tachi tied her hair up with a red ribbon and jumped out the window.

- x - x - x - Team 10 - x - x - x -

"I don't care what the heck you think, I've always been leader of the group and that's not gonna change just because you're here." Taro yelled, his sharingan activated, along with the infamous Uchiha glare.

Hiro glared at Taro. "I think instead of listening to you we should work as a team." Hiro replied calmly, folding his arms across his chest. Misa sighed as Tachi and Kana came up behind her.

"Um... how long have they been going on like this?" Tachi asked.

"Around an hour and fifteen minutes." Chihiro replied, glancing to Tachi.

"Where is Kakashi and the other sensei?" Kana asked rather loudly. Kana had blonde hair and brown eyes. She was usually hyper, social and talkative. In fact she had talked Tachi's ear off on the way training ground. She was dressed in a purple tank top dress that went mid thigh and her head band was around her waist.

Misa was dressed in a baby blue tube top with her mothers old sweatshirt covering it. She had on thin dark purple leggings and her head band was around her neck.

"Kakashi is late, as usual. A very unyouthful life style to lead." Gai said popping up out of no where. "MISA!" Misa jumped. "Don't lead a late life like my rival Kakashi Hatake. Be youthful my student!"

"You're scaring her, Gai. Calm down. Fifty years old and you still haven't changed. Neji, Naruto, and I were having a meeting about the up coming chuunin exams, that's all." Kakashi explained.

Taro and Hiro continued their argument until, "Taro!"

"What?" Taro yelled.

"Stop yelling at Hiro! He's not yelling at you!" Tachi replied.

"Oh defend carrot top but you won't defend your own brother? I see how you are!" Taro seethed.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you to treat a woman with respect?" Hiro asked, glaring at the eldest Uchiha.

"Leave my mother out of this. And Tachi's not a woman! She's fifteen. She can hardly call herself a shinobi, much less a woman."

"Oh so now you're being sexist, Taro? I'm just as strong as you are maybe stronger. After all I did achieve Sharingan and Katon no Jutsu faster than you did. And don't forget who earned the crest first." At that moment Taro's fist connected with her jaw. Hiro growled as he lunged at Taro. Tachi quickly recovered and begun holding her right arm, focusing her chakra. The sound of chirping birds suddenly filled the training ground. The spectator's eyes widened, as Tachi ran forward, the attack aimed for and unsuspecting Taro.

Suddenly, a kunai whipped out and embedded itself deep into her arms as she screamed. The chirping slowly died as Tachi wiped her tears and fixed her left hand over the wound, green, warm, chakra flowing into it. Taro and Hiro had stopped fighting for the moment, both to see if Tachi was okay and to watch for any other random, flying sharp objects. A shadow hovered over her.

"Uchiha Tachi, you know good and well that you are only supposed to use chidori if you are in dire need of it." Kakashi said, clearly angered.

"But-"

"Do you realize you could've killed Taro and - if you had missed - Hiro just now?" Tachi didn't say anything. "What the hell was going through Sasuke's head when he taught you that? I could understand if you had used it against an enemy but your own brother? Your own flesh and blood? Tachi I've never been so disappointed, not even in your father."

"Not even when he left the village?"

"At least Tou-san never tried to kill his own flesh and blood." Taro said from his spot on the ground.

"Well actually -" Naruto started.

"Naruto, shut up. They don't need to know." Kakashi said, shooting a warning glance in the sixth hokage's general direction.

"Need to know what? What don't we need to know?" Tachi begged.

"Kakashi-sensei, why don't they need to know about Itachi?" Naruto asked cluelessly.

"Who's Itachi?" Taro asked, looking back from Naruto to Kakashi.

"Naruto, you idiot." Neji scolded.

"Okay, point is," Kakashi continued, ignoring that Naruto just blew the very thing Sasuke and Sakura were trying to protect Tachi and Taro from, "you tried to kill your brother and your father with know about it." Kakashi interrupted.

"But he didn't teach me! I learned it myself." Tachi tried to explain, after healing herself. She didn't want her father to get in trouble for something he didn't do.

"That's impossible. Only your father and I know how to do that jutsu. Don't tell such lies Tachi."

"No. I watched him training and I activated my sharingan to see if I could copy it, and it worked." She explained.

"Tachi, that's not possible for Chidori. It can't be copied with the normal three tomoe sharingan." Kakashi said.

"Well it took up a lot of chakra and my vision was kinda blurry after that." Tachi replied.

"Show me the sharingan you used."

Tachi nodded. Her pupils swirled and separated into three open circles with the outline of the five tipped star in the center of them as her eyes turned blood red. "Dear Kami... Naruto call Sasuke and Sakura. I do believe that Tachi has awakened her personal sharingan." Kakashi said, examining Tachi's eyes further.

"What? But people don't earn stuff like that until they're at least fifty... sometimes never. Tou-san said so." Taro said, raising his voice, taking a peek at his younger sister's eyes.

"Yeah, but Tou-san also earned his at 16." Tachi said, looking to her brother.

"They also have to be under extreme pressure or stress."

"Well the genin exam was coming up when I copied it and I was desperate to learn something that no one else knew. But the first time I tried it, I passed out and didn't come to dinner until around dark time." Tachi reasoned, "If that counts." She looked back to Kakashi, who nodded in confirmation. Tachi looked back to Taro and pulled down her eyelid, sticking out her tongue.

Taro scoffed. "You are so childish. Are you sure she's even related to me?"

Hiro glared, "Just admit it, Uchiha. You're jealous because Tachi-san can do something that you can't. Get over it." He said in a monotone.

Taro ignored the comment. Naruto and Kakashi nodded at Taro's question. "I was in the hospital room when Sakura-chan gave birth to her." Naruto replied.

"You still add that suffix to Sakura-sempai's name?" Neji asked, in disbelief.

"Yes."

"Baka."

Suddenly Sasuke and Sakura jumped into the training ground. "What's wrong with Tachi?" Sasuke asked urgently.

Before Kakashi could answer, Sakura interrupted. "Sasuke-kun, look at your daughter's eyes. Sasuke did as he was told.

"Kami..." Sasuke bent down to get a better look.

"Sasuke she used that sharingan to copy the chidori and tried to use it on Taro." Kakashi said.

"You used chidori on your brother?" Sakura asked, shocked.

"He called me weak because I'm a girl then he said I was just a kid and had no potential of being a real ninja." Tachi explained.

"How dare you, Uchiha Fugaku Taro? You sister is just as strong and capable a ninja as you are."

"But -"

"Look, you both share Uchiha blood which makes both of you capable of achieving excellence. If I ever hear you say something like that to any of your siblings again, Kami pray that I do everything BUT disown you."

"Sasuke-kun don't you think that's a bit-"

Taro's throat tightened with every word that was said. "I see who's your favorite then."

"Taro out of all three of my children, I have no favorites." Sasuke said, trying to reason with his son. "Oh dear Kami." Taro laughed in disbelief. "That's a load of crap. I mean you and mom are forty something years old and you're going to be sixty by the time Suichiro is twenty. And you guys are still popping out kids!" Taro yelled, motioning to Sakura's swelling stomach.

Sasuke's eyes darkened. "Uchiha Taro, go home, now. And you can forget about that Anbu exam in two weeks."

"Whatever." Taro replied, jumping out of the training grounds. Sasuke looked to Tachi.

"Don't think you're not gonna get away with trying to use chidori on your brother. We'll talk about it at home."

"Hai, Tou-san... hey, Tou-san... can I ask you a question?" Tachi requested.

"You're going to ask it anyway." Sasuke replied, pinching the bridge of his nose, in frustration.

"Who's Itachi?" Tachi asked.

Sasuke gave and heavy sigh, his eyes flickering dangerously to Naruto a few times. "Tachi, I think you better go home as well."

"But, Tou-san? What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything, tenshi. Just go home, we need to talk as a family."

"Kay."

Hiro stood up and walked over to Tachi. "I guess I'll see you around then." He said, extending a hand.

Tachi smiled. "Yeah. Thanks for defending me back there with Taro." She took his hand as a thankful gesture.

"You're welcome. Just let me know if you need anymore help with him."

"I will." They were still shaking hands. Finally, they realized what they were doing... and released each other's hands.

"Oh, um - sorry -"

"Don't be - I wasn't - I - um… crap."

"Well, see yah!" Tachi said, heading for home.

"Good-bye." Hiro called after her, returning to his remaining teammate.

"Sorry Kakashi-" Sasuke started.

"Don't worry about it Sasuke. This is something you need to do. I understand." Kakashi replied. Sasuke nodded taking Sakura home.

Hiro looked to Naruto. "I could've beat him..." he mumbled. "Disrespectful brat." Kana and Misa rolled her eyes.

"Don't think I didn't see that little scene between you and Tachi." Chihiro said walking up to her brother.

"Ooh! Ooh! I saw it too! Hiro likes Tachi! Hiro likes Tachi! Tachi likes Hiro! Sasuke's gonna be pissed! Hiro likes Tachi!" Naruto chanted. Oh how Hiro wanted to kill Naruto at that very moment.

"I do not. At least not like that." Hiro contradicted, letting his bangs hide his eyes.

Chihiro whispered, "Aniki... your cheeks are red."

The girls laughed - except for Chihiro who just smirked, and Naruto kept chanting his song. Kakashi sighed contentedly. This would prove to be very interesting.

**/AN:**

**Me: Okay, so that's it for the official first chapter. I hope it was long enough for you guys.**

**Christal: Yes.. It was long and hard and took a lot of editing and concentration.**

**Me: Thank you! And don't forget to review please!**

**Christal: Yeah! We love reviews!**


	3. Revealed

**/AN: Wuzzup peeps? Sorry about the delay in the updating! I'm really, really, REALLY SORRY!**

**Okay so a couple of announcements:**

**I'm now going solo on Time Lines.**

**I probably won't update as much because I don't have my own computer anymore. Which sucks hard.**

**That's about it. With out further ado:**

**I give you:**

**Chapter 2: Revealed.**

Tachi made her way back to the main house in the Uchiha Estate. Then a thought occurred to her: _'If Tou-san and Kaa-san are behind me... where's Suichiro?'_

She looked into the kitchen and looked at the empty high chair. Franticly, she looked around the house. Finally, she found her baby sister sitting up in her crib, giggling at Taro, who stood over her, tickling her.

"I see you made it home." Taro said, a hint of anger in his voice.

"Yeah. Tou-san said that we're gonna have a family talk." Tachi said, swooping Suichiro into her arms.

"You know, I was playing with her." Taro said.

"And you've been home for nearly twenty minutes now. My turn to spend to spend some time with my baby sister." Tachi replied.

"You're a real brat, you know that?"

Tachi nodded. "And proud of it."

"Why are you even home? Shouldn't you be training with your little boyfriend?" Taro yelled.

"First off, he's not my boyfriend. I just met him. Secondly, I told you, Tou-san said we were gonna have a family talk."

"Who cares? All it'll be is more grief for the both of us." Taro raised his voice a little more.

A wail was heard as Sakura barged through the door. "What's going on in here?" Sakura asked, stealing the crying, upset baby away.

"Taro's just mad because I took Suichiro from him." Tachi replied.

Sakura sighed. "Sasuke, take over." She said collapsing onto the rocking chair in the corner.

"Taro, Tachi, follow me." Sasuke said walking outside and into the garden. Eventually, he came to the gate and walked out and into the forest behind the house.

"Hey, Tou-san. Where are you leading us?" Tachi asked ducking under a low branch.

"Who cares?" Taro replied begrudgingly.

Sasuke stopped and glared at his son. "Watch the attitude or you'll lose more than just the Anbu exams." The head Uchiha began walking again until he came to a large Sakura tree, where he sat down. Beside them was a huge lake.

"Tou-san, it's beautiful!" Tachi exclaimed.

"Sit." Came the one word answer. Tachi and Taro did a they were told.

They sat in silence for a while until Taro spoke up. "Are you gonna tell us who Itachi is or what?"

Sasuke gave a heavy sigh. "Uchiha Itachi... is my brother. And your uncle." He began.

"Okay... is he dead or something?" Taro asked in a bored tome.

"Baka! Be respectful!"

"No, he's not dead. Okay to fully understand this, we must go back to when I was a child." Sasuke said.

"It started when I was six. I had just started the ninja academy. Itachi was 11 and had been studying for the Anbu exams." Sasuke paused to gather his thoughts.

"He was Anbu at 11?" Tachi asked. Sasuke nodded.

"And a powerful one at that. Eventually, Itachi was accused of murdering his best friend. This was also around the time he began distancing himself from the family. Training more often, ignoring family meetings... One night he was fighting with some of our cousins. That was the first time I had seen the Mangekyou Sharingan. Back then, I had no idea what it was." Sasuke paused to gather his thoughts.

"So I don't get it." Taro said finally getting interested upon hearing the mentioning of the Mangekyou. If Uncle Itachi isn't dead, and he didn't do anything wrong, why haven't we ever met?" Sasuke's son explained.

"I'm getting to it, Taro. Be patient." Sasuke replied. "Soon after I turned seven, father and Itachi began arguing frequently." Sasuke paused again, bringing back the painful memories. "The next day I had come home late from the academy. When I entered the Uchiha district, I knew something was wrong. The air smelled of blood and there weren't any lights on anywhere. I turned a street and my aunt and uncle and a few others were laying in a puddle of their own blood. I ran home to see if Itachi, mother and father were okay. When I entered the family room, I saw Mother and Father dead with a shadow looming over them. When the shadow came into the moon light, Itachi was revealed. He told me I was foolish and he wanted to test his strength." Sasuke's hair was in his face and he felt hot fiery tears threatening to spill over. "He put me in the Mangekyou and told me, 'If you must kill me... hate me, detest me, then run and cling to life and survive like a coward. Follow in my foot steps and come to me when you have my eyes.' The next day, I hadn't woken up in the streets like I had expected myself to. In fact, I woke a week later in the hospital, two nurses talking about what happened. The rest is mostly a blur." By the time he had finished, the sun had set and Tachi was on Sasuke's lap.

"Itachi sounds like a real ba-"

"Mouth Taro."

"Gomen. So why don't somebody take him down?" Taro replied.

"You don't know how hard I've tried." Sasuke turned his face towards the sky and the full moon over head." It's getting late. Your mother will have dinner ready by the time we get home. We should go."

For dinner, they had sushi and friend rice. Taro ate in his room, leaving the others in the family room to eat.

Tachi bid her parents good night and went to her room. She set her alarm and changed into a form fitting tank top and a pair of sweat pants, laying her head band on the bed side table. Just as she climbed into bed, a kunai shot through the crack in her window.

"The fudge?" she asked herself. Tachi took the kunai from the wall, taking the note that was attached to it.

_'Tachi,_

_go to your window._

_-Hiro.'_

She did as the note said and walked to her window. There, waiting for her, was Hiro. "What the heck are you doing here, Hiro?"

"I wanted to talk to you." Tachi sighed.

"Give me a minute!" She called back, opening her window further. Tachi jumped out the window head first, making Hiro gasp in surprise. She landed on her hands, blue chakra flowing form them. Tachi jumped and landed on her feet. "Wuzzup?" She asked.

"That was amazing." Hiro said.

"It's not that hard." Tachi said. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"Anything. I was bored and Chihiro was talking on the phone." Hiro replied. Tachi looked at him expectantly. "Um... would you like to take a walk with me, Tachi?" He asked, like he was nervous.

_ 'Thank kami it's dark.' _Tachi thought, her cheeks blushed red. "Uh... sure." With that, they headed off, Hiro leading the way.

They walked in silence for a while, until Tachi spoke up. "So, where are we going?" she asked.

"You'll see." Hiro replied. Before Tachi could say anything else, the couple arrived at the old bridge.

"I don't get it. Team 7's old bridge. What are we doing here?" Tachi looked to Hiro, utterly confused.

"I actually came here to talk to you about something." Hiro explained.

"About what?"

"Your team is being entered in the chuunin exams correct?" Tachi nodded. Hiro dug around for something in his pocket. Finally he pulled out a necklace with a silver crescent moon on it.

"Hiro... it's beautiful but why-" Tachi started.

"Promise me you'll wear this during the chuunin exams. If you are ever in trouble, or if you need anything at all, push you chakra into the moon and send a thought with it. It'll work as a satellite and homing beacon. The moon will send a distress signal to my sun necklace," Hiro held up the necklace. The necklace was leather and the ornament silver. "I'll hear the message and sense your location. It also works as a walkie talkie so we can communicate to each other. I'll be there to help in no time." Hiro explained placing the necklace in Tachi's hand.

"Hiro, I can't allow you to do that for me." Tachi said.

"I'm not taking no for an answer." Hiro replied.

Tachi sighed. "Fine. Am I the only one or do others have these as well?"

"My sister is the only other one. Except... hers is a cloud."

"I see. That makes me feel a little better." Tachi stumbled over her words. "T-thanks... H-hiro." That being said, Tachi rose to her tip toes and kissed Hiro on the cheek. Hiro blushed as his fingers touched where Tachi's lips had been.

Tachi tried fastening the necklace around her neck, with little success. "Uh... here, let me help." Hiro took the necklace and clipped the hooked ends together.

"Th-thanks, Hiro-kun."

_ 'Hiro-kun...?' _Hiro thought. "No problem, Tachi-chan."

"Well... um... it's getting late. Do... you... um... think you could take me home now?" Tachi asked.

"Yeah, sure."

The walk back to the Uchiha compound was silent until they arrived. Tachi turned to Hiro. "Thank you, Hiro, for doing this." Tachi replied. Quickly, before either could say anything else, Hiro's lips met with Tachi's. The Uchiha stiffened but relaxed into the kiss. Tachi broke off.

"Um.. well.. you should probably get back to your room before your jack hole of a brother or your dad come to check on you." Hiro said, his eyes not meeting with Tachi's.

"Yeah. I'll.. um.. see you later."

"Yup."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Tachi pumped chakra to her feet and climbed the wall to her room, shutting the window. She jumped on her bed and squeeled like a little girl. Uchiha Tachi wouldn't fall asleep for hours.

**/AN: Okay so that's the second chapter. Hope you guys liked it. Review please!/**


	4. Of Spaghetti Monsters and Loop Holes

**AN: Hello to all! Guess what? You're reading the 3rd chapter of Time Lines! Congratulations on making it this far!**

**Cheyne: You're weird.**

**Caitlin: -_-' my weird cousin, Cheyne is in for Easter. Joy. Continuing. Well, while you're here Cheyne, do you mind doing the disclaimer?**

**Cheyne: Sure, why not? Eh hem. My cousin doesn't own Naruto.**

**Caitlin: I OWN NANAMI!... though Itachi-sama would be better. *sulk***

**Itachi: in my worst nightmare and in your best dream.**

**Caitlin: ehem: Behold!**

**Chapter Three: Of Spaghetti Monsters and Loop Holes**

Tachi woke up to the sound of Taro banging on her door. "Tachi! Get up!" Tachi sat up in a daze, as her older brother came through the door.

"Do you have any respect at all for my room or do you want to see me naked?" Tachi asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Don't think I didn't see y- what the heck is that thing around your neck?" Taro folded his arms in disgust.

"It's a necklace. Ever heard of one?"

"Whatever. Anyway, don't think I didn't see you sneak out last night. I thought tou-san told you, you weren't allowed to see that kid." Taro said, glaring at his sister.

Tachi threw her legs over the side of the bed, shivering from the sudden loss of warmth. "He did. Doesn't mean I have to listen. He's only a year older than I am. And who are you to call Hiro-kun a kid? You're the same age." Tachi replied, going to her closet. It was Saturday so no training. "Plus, tou-san also said you weren't allowed to hang out with that Mist Village Ninja and you did and she was three years older than you. And you did a little more than just a kiss on the lips. So don't criticize me when you've done worse."

"Whoa, wait. Let's backtrack a minute here. You _kissed_ him? You just met him yesterday! And you're already sneaking off in the middle of the night, accepting gifts from him, and now you're making out with him? Tachi, I knew Kiri for two weeks before we ever did anything. You know nothing about Hiro. What if he tries to take advantage of you when me or tou-san isn't there? Then what'll you do? There'll be no one around to help you. And _'Hiro-kun?'_" Taro sighed. "Look, I'm telling you. If you don't want tou-san and Kazekage-sama involved on your little fairytale relationship with that creep, I suggest you think of him as nothing more than a friend. The kid's bad news."

"First off, if he goes too far and doesn't stop when I tell him to, I'm a Konoha kunoichi. I can take care of myself. Secondly I think you're bad news. I feel sorry for Misa-chan. Thirdly: you cant tell me who I can and can't date." Tachi turned to look at Taro. "I'd rather not have my brother in here while I'm dressing." Tachi looked at him expectantly.

"And?"

"GET OUT!"

"Okay, Okay. Kami, don't kill me." Taro left.

Tachi dressed into her clothes. She wore a red form fitting t-shirt with a small Uchiha crest on the back, and a black mini skirt. She tied her hair up with the same red ribbon as the day before. As she finished putting on her eyeliner, Tachi rushed down the stairs to the smell of bacon, eggs, sausage, and toast.

"Ohayo, tou-san. Kaa-san. Konichiwa Suichiro." The baby smiled in response. "Where's Taro?"

"He left already." Sakura said.

"Are you staying for breakfast, Tachi?" Sasuke asked.

"No. I'm meeting Kakashi-sensei and the others at the training grounds." Tachi replied making a breakfast sandwich and heading out the door. "Bye!" she called.

-Rock Village-

"...to kidnap her-" Itachi started.

Deidara gasped, just coming into the room. "Kidnapping? Itachi-sama who are we kidnapping?" the blond screamed.

"No one. Orochimaru is kidnapping my niece." Itachi said simply.

"What's her name?" Tobi asked.

"Uchiha Tachi."

"Her name is Itachi?" Sasori's eyebrow raised.

"Tachi."

"Why would your brother be stupid enough to name his daughter after his brother if he hates you?" White Zetsu pondered. "Better yet, why would he give her a boy's name?" Black Zetsu replied.

Itachi glared. "Hn." Itachi turned and left for his quarters.

"Itachi-sama! I'm bored. Play with me?" A black/blue haired girl sat on the king sized bed. Silently Itachi sat on the bed beside her.

"Nanami. Beg." he commanded. Nanami did as she was told.

"It-ach-i-sa-ma..." Nanami licked his ear as Itachi rolled over so Nanami was under him.

"Nanami..."

-Leaf-

"Kaka-sensei-"

"Tachi-chan!" Hiro came up behind Tachi, his deep voice cutting into her thoughts.

"Hiro-kun! Taro knows about me sneaking out last night." Tachi said.

"You're not in trouble are you?"

"No. Not yet anyways."

"Tachi-chan! Eh, Hiro?" Tachi turned to see Renji and Kenji behind them.

"Renji! Kenji! Have you met Hiro yet?" Tachi asked.

"Wuzzup? I'm Uzumaki-Hyuuga Renji: of the Leaf! Our next Ichiraku Ramen shop owner... person.. thing." Tachi and Kenji rolled their eyes.

"Subaku Hiro of the Desert."

"Hyuuga Kenji. Um. Not to be rude but you're on Taro's team correct?" Kenji spoke. "Unfortunately. Why?" Hiro asked.

Kenji faltered. "No reason."

The teams were told to form up by their sensei. They formed a circle of teams. Naruto standing at the front. "I am pleased to inform you that you have all been entered in the chuunin exams. Feel free to celebrate later. Tomorrow you will be taking the written portion of the chuunin exams, with Ikibi and Ebisu. The questions will be hard and you will be tempted to cheat. Ikibi will tell you more." Murmuring was heard.

"Written portion? There's a written portion?" Someone said.

"You will meet at the hokage tower at 3:00 pm tomorrow. See you all there and congratulations." Naruto finished and dismissed the groups back to their teams.

"Kakashi-sensei, can I go over to Gai-sensei's team?" Tachi asked.

"For what?"

Tachi blushed. "I... um... left my kunai holster at Misa's house and was wondering if she had brought it with her." She thought quickly. Well, it was partially true. She had left her extra kunai holster at Misa's house.

"Go ahead, Tachi." Kakashi replied.

Tachi bowed respectfully and ran across the grounds and immediately started talking to Hiro.

"What's with those two? Its like their conjoined at the hip." Kenji said looking to a brooding and upset Renji.

"Eh, I don't see what's so good about that guy. I mean what does Hiro have that I don't?" Renji asked, his spiky blonde hair drooping.

"Brains, tattoos, sex appeal, he's tall, he's-according to the kunoichi- sexy, he's jonin level, need I continue?" Kenji replied smirking at Renji's reaction.

"Fine, if that's the kind of guy Tachi wants, that's the kind of guy that Tachi will get!" Renji stood up straight and pointed the finger of doom towards the sky.

"I don't wanna know, Renji." Kenji said.

"Oh yes you do, because you're helping me." Renji replied.

"Ugh. Fate hates me."

-Team 10-

"He'll tell our fathers. That's just the kind of guy Taro is. It's only because he's worried about me. He doesn't want me to get hurt." Tachi told Hiro.

"Could of fooled me."

"Hey Tachi, Chihiro, Hikari Kana and I are going to my house after this. Wanna come?" Misa asked, quietly.

"Yeah, sure."

Suddenly Kana came up behind Misa and pushed her head down. "ZOMG! TACHI WHERE DID YOU GET THAT AWESOME NECKLACE? IT'S SO PRETTY!" The blond screamed.

"Hiro-kun gave it to me." Tachi replied.

"_'Hiro-kun?' _Oh my.. Tachi... is there something between you and Hiro that we don't know about?" Hikari asked suspiciously.

"W-what? No! Hikari!" Tachi stuttered.

Hiro's entire face went red like a tomato. "It.. it's not like that!" Hiro tried to explain. _'Even though I want it to be.'_

"Hikari, we... we're not-no that's not right. We're just... it's-" Tachi stumbled over her words.

"It's okay Tachi. I get it. You and Hiro are just friends. Don't have a hissy, Tachi-chan." Hikari said, throwing a peace sign.

Hiro sweat dropped and Tachi sighed.

-2 hours later-

Tachi grabbed her pack from a near by tree. In it contained three huge tomatoes, a stick of dango and a bag of fresh homemade cookies. Hiro and Kana looked at the small lunch in surprise.

"Wow, that's not much Tachi. Aren't you gonna be hungry?" Kana asked rather loudly.

"I don't eat much. I mean seriously, have you ever seen me eat more than one plate of food?" Tachi asked.

Suddenly, two onigiri were placed in front of Tachi. "Uh?"

"It's a good thing I put a bit of tomato in the middle, right?" Tachi looked into Hiro's binto box and saw two more quite large onigiri, four sticks of dango, 3 bottles of water and a medium box of bbq pork. "I eat a lot so you can have these."

"Hiro, I'm not taking these from you." Tachi said.

"I'll force feed you."

"You wouldn't. Would you?"

"No. But still." Hiro insisted.

"Fine. Arigato." Tachi took a bite of the rice ball. "So why do you eat so much Hiro-kun?"

Hiro's eyes darkened. "It's a long story. I'll tell you later."

"O-okay."

Soon the day ended. "Misa, I'm gonna tell Tou-san I'm going to your house."

"Okay." Misa replied softly.

Tachi ran over to Sasuke. "Tou-san, I'm going to Misa's house for the night." Tachi said.

"Don't be late for the written portion of the chuunin exams.." Sasuke replied.

"I won't Naruto-dobe may not be very responsible but Misa-chan is."

"Uchiha Tachi?"

Tachi looked around. "Huh?"  
"I don't believe we've formally met. I'm Subaku Chihiro." Hiro's sister stood in front of Tachi.

"Uchiha Tachi... but I guess you knew that, huh?"

"I heard my brother gave you the necklace."

"Um. Yeah. That was nice of him." Tachi replied.

"He's a nice kid."

"Tachi, Chihiro! Hurry up slow pokes! We've got brains to taint!" Kana yelled from a few yards away.

-Uzumaki-Hyuuga House Hold-

"Kaa-san! Tou-san! We is home!" Misa said more loudly than usual. "I like chocolate milk." It was a tradition that Renji had made up when the group was seven. They had been doing it ever since.

"Honey! I'm home!" Tachi said.

"Cheese omelet! Ooh, Misa I'm hungry!" Kana exclaimed.

"SANTA CLAUSE!" Hikari giggled to herself.

"Christmas isn't for another ten months Hikari-chan!" Tachi smiled.

"I know. That's the point."

Everyone looked at Chihiro, who looked confused. "Just say something random, Chiro-chan." Misa said, trying to be encouraging.

"Uh... zebra's?"

The door shut behind them. "You guys are still doing that random thing?" Naruto asked, rubbing the back of his blonde head.

"We never stopped Tou-san." Misa said giving her father a hug. "Where's Kaa-san?"

"She took Ichigo and Ichijo to the park." Naruto replied.

"And what about Renji?"

"He's with the boys at the main house. Why?"

"No reason Tou-san." Misa went up stairs to her room, the rest of the girls following. The rest of the night was spent talking, eating and telling stories of the past, until the clock struck midnight.

"Guess what girls? It's midnight. Doust thou know what this means? Tis the witching hour. Therefore, we tell ghost stories! Who vants to go first?" Ah, Hikari and her weird antics.

"Ooh! I will!" Tachi exclaimed. Hikari nodded. "Okay so you know the story of Bloody Mary... correct?" The girls nodded. "Misa was there, she remembers." Tachi used her creepiest voice. "It was a night much like this-"

"No it wasn't. It was June Tachi-chan. It's October now." Misa said softly.

"Shoosh! They don't gotta know that." Tachi said under her breath. Kana and Hikari giggled and Chihiro smiled.

"Ehem! It was a night much like this." Misa rolled her eyes. "Misa and I were at my house and she and I couldn't sleep. We were bored and there wasn't much to do at two thirty in the morning. So I proposed we try to summon Bloody Mary. We said the phrase three times. Nothing happened. Disappointed, we blew out the candles and went to bed. Then the water faucet turned on and there was no one in the bathroom. Then we had freaky dreams and lived happily ever after. The end."

"Great story Tachi." Hikari said sarcastically.

"Okay my turn." Kana said. "The story is called the Flying Spaghetti Monster."

"The Flying Spaghetti Monster?" Misa asked.

Kana nodded and reached into her backpack and pullet out a box of red meaty sauce... and noodles. She opened the box and stuck he hand in and threw it at Misa.

Misa squeaked and threw it at Tachi who at Kana but landed on Hikari who threw it at Chihiro.

"And they were all visited by the flying spaghetti monster." Kana ended the 'story'.

"Kana! I'm all nasty now!" Misa complained.

"Let's go streaking!" Tachi said, raising her arms ready to strip and run through the town.

"Oh dear Kami, Tachi your father would massacre you."

"Does anyone have extra clothes?" Chihiro asked. Kana threw a huge shirt at Chihiro. "Thank you."

"Okay we can stay here and take showers at one twenty-two in the morning or go streaking and then take showers." Kana said. Tachi, Hikari, and Kana voted for streaking. Misa and Chihiro chose showers.

"Everybody strip!" Tachi stood, about to take off her shirt.

"Wait!" Hikari interrupted. Tachi gave her a strange look. "We need music." Misa pressed the on button on the stereo on her shelf. The music was loud and before the song was over, the girls were completely nude.

Suddenly the door burst open. Naruto stood in the door way. The music stopped and the girls stared at Naruto who stared back. "LOOP HOLES!" Naruto flung himself out the door, back into his room. Both him and the girls screaming the entire time.

-x-

After the girls had their panic attack, they all had sat in Misa's floor. "I can't believe my dad saw me naked. That's so gross!"

"I'm still up for streaking if you guys are." Tachi said, poking her chest.

The girls hit Tachi over the head with pillows.

**/AN/ Hey all. So terribly sorry for not updating sooner. I just moved two hours away from my old house, leaving Christal behind. She bids her farewell. However, Katy my good friend whom I've known for forever has agreed to help me.**

**Katy: Hello**

**Me: Yes well. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I hope to be updating soon, but you know how that goes. Well, Happy Easter.**

**Katy: R&R plz.**

**Ja ne!**


	5. First Portion: Ibiki and Ebisu

**/AN: Hello again everybody.**

**Katy: Hi there!**

**Me: Sorry I haven't been updating as quickly as I wanted to. But now everything has mostly settled down at our new house so hopefully I can begin to update more frequently.**

**Katy: SHH! I'm busy editing your crappy grammar and spelling and punctuation!**

**Me: Hey, I'm just the author. I create the plot and methods of torture that I plan on putting everybody through. I care nothing of your so called, "spelling, grammar, and punctuation".**

**Katy: Well, you should.**

**Me: That's what you're here for, Katy.**

**Katy: Caitlin-sama doesn't own Naruto.**

**Me: BUT I OWN HIRO-KUN! YAYZ! ^_^**

**Katy: Yes we know Caitlin. Onward!**

**Chapter 4: First Test: Ibiki and Ebisu**

The girls woke late in the afternoon. Chihiro had left early that morning, not bothering to wake the other four girls.

Tachi looked at the clock. Her eyes widened. "Tou-san's gonna kill me! We're late!" It was 2:42. The first portion of the chuunin exams started at 3:00.

They rushed around to get their clothes on for the day. Finally, Tachi, Misa, Hikari, and Kana reached the hokage tower.

"Uchiha Tachi. Uzumaki-Hyuuga Misa. Hyuuga Hikari, Naara Kana. Nice of you to join us. Find your seats so we can begin." Ibiki said darkly.

Tachi sat beside some stone ninja, who smirked.

"The test in front of you right now is the chuunin exam. There are 10 questions. You've probably noticed that there are jonin surrounding the entire room. If you are caught cheating three times, you and your teammates will be automatically disqualified. The tenth question will be one I ask. If any of you would like to quit now show by a raise of hands." Nobody raised their hands. "Begin."

Tachi stared at her paper after her name was written. _**'Oh shit, talking mushrooms.' **_Inner Tachi cried. _"Okay, Tachi. Clear your mind.' _Tachi thought.

Out of the corner of her eye, the female Uchiha heir saw the stone ninja, staring at her with that smirk again. _'What is he staring at?' _Tachi asked herself. _**'Us and our sexy Uchiha genes.' **_Tachi's inner replied.

_ 'Well I'd wish he'd stop. He's distracting me.' _

_** 'Well get over it and finish your test girlie!' **_

_ 'Right. Okay, first question.' _Tachi looked down at her paper. _'What?' _Suddenly she felt a hand on her thigh. In a heart beat, Tachi had her sharingan activated and she was out of her seat. "Can I help you with something, pervert?"

The stone ninja fell out of his seat, cowering in fear. "I'm so sorry, Uchiha-san! Please don't hurt me! I was just trying to get you to show me your answers! Spare me!" The boy begged.

"Uchiha! Two strikes on your count. Yosoba, gather your team and leave!" Ibiki commanded.

"Hai."

_** "That was close." **_Inner Tachi said, wiping sweat from her brow.

_'I told you he was a creeper.' _IT stuck out her tongue. Tachi rolled her eyes and turned back to the exam.

-x - x - x - Renji - x - x - x-

Renji looked at the clock for what seemed like then hundredth time in the last fifteen minutes. _'We've only got an hour. I haven't even gotten the first question done yet.'_ The blonde looked over to Hiro who was sitting beside him. His eyes widened. _'He... he's already done! How am I supposed to compete with that?' _Renji's eyes drifted to Taro's who was on the right of him. He inwardly scoffed. The Uchiha heir wasn't even halfway done with his. _'I don't want to cheat... but I don't want Tachi-chan to think I'm a... what did Kana call it... an.. igno... igor...igoramatus? Forget it. I don't want her to think I'm an idiotic loser. I have to cheat then... but if I ask Hiro he'll tell Tachi and they'll both laugh in my face.' _Renji's face lit up. _'That's it! I'll ask her brother! He's a nice guy.'_

"PST... Taro... give me your answers..." Renji tried to whisper. Suddenly, He heard the scrape of a pencil on paper behind him. _'Oh no! Crap.'_

-x - x - x - Hiro - x - x - x-

_ 'Ugh... I probably failed. I rushed through it so fast... I didn't even understand one of the questions. Ugh, Tachi's gonna think I'm an idiot. Who am I kidding? I am an idiot! I kissed her! I know what that could do to her... any physical contact I have with her could-'_

"PST... Taro... give me your answers..." Hiro glanced in Renji's general direction.

_ 'Dear Kami, what a Baka. That's a dead give away that he's cheating.' _Suddenly Hiro heard Renji rip a piece of paper off of his exam and watched him write something on it. _'What did he write?' _He watched as Renji passed the paper to Taro. Another scrape behind Renji was heard. _'Crap! He's gonna get both him and Tachi disqualified! I've gotta do something to stop him.'_ Hiro kicked him under the table, in an attempt to keep Renji from cheating again.

-x - x - x - Taro - x - x - x-

_ 'Tachi's teammate's an idiot. I'm not gonna give him my answers. I don't care how bad he begs.'_

-x - x - x - Tachi - x - x - x-

_' I've gotta do something before the times up! I bet Hiro's breezing through this like it's nothing! He's gonna think I'm more of an idiot than Renji.' _Tachi looked at the clock. _'I've got fifteen minutes left!'_

_** 'You've still got the necklace around your neck don't you?'**_ IT asked.

_ 'Yeah, of course I haven't taken it off since Hiro put it on.'_

_** 'USE IT! Baka.'**_

Doing what she was told, Tachi pushed her chakra into her necklace. _'Hiro?'_

_ 'Nope. Chihiro. Watcha need Tachi?'_ Chihiro's voice was heard in Tachi's brain.

_ 'Oops. Sorry Chihiro. Lookin' for your brother.'_

_ 'Try thinking of his face while you're using the charm. That usually works for me.' _Chihiro replied.

_ 'Oh. Thanks.'_

_ 'No problem.'_

_** 'Way to go about using it, baka.' **_Tachi ignored her inner self and thought of Hiro's face while pushing chakra into the necklace. _'Hiro?'_

-x - x - x - Hiro - x - x - x-

_ 'Hey, Tachi? What's up?'_ Hiro responded.

_ 'Oh not much. Having any luck on the exam?'_

Hiro felt himself blush. _'Um... I've kind of already finished. I guessed mostly but its better than having a blank paper right?'_

_ 'About that... I was wondering if-'_

_ 'The first question was how to break a teammate from genjutsu correct?'_ Hiro asked.

_ 'Yeah.'_

_ 'I put slap the person across the face and if that doesn't work, kill the person that trapped them in the genjutsu. If that doesn't work, throw a rock at the person's head.'_ Hiro replied as Tachi wrote down the answer. Together they went through the exam together. Just as Tachi finished, a voice rang out.

"Time's up! Pencils down. Pass in your exams." Ebisu called.

Hiro glanced at Renji's exam only to burst out laughing.

"Subaku! Is there an issue?" Ibiki asked.

Hiro froze in his seat. "N-no sir. Just happy that it's over that's all!" He wasn't laughing because in all of that hour Renji never once put down anything but his name... but the fact that Renji himself misspelled his own name.

"You still have the tenth question you fool." Ebisu scolded.

Ibiki smirked. "If you wish to take the risk."

The ninja froze, shaking in their seats. "Those of you who get the tenth question wrong will stay a genin forever. The cowards can leave now and take a stab at the exam next year." Half of the ninja left.

-x - x - x - Normal - x - x - x-

The only genin left were, Tachi, Renji, Kenji, Hiro, Taro, Misa, Kana, Hikari, Chihiro, and a strange team from Rain Village. "Congratulations those of you who are still here. You pass the first portion of the Chuunin Exams."

"What? I don't get it! You didn't even ask us the question! How did we pass?" Renji burst out of his seat.

"There was never a tenth question Uzumaki-Hyuuga Renji. It was simply a test of courage. You all stayed knowing that if you got the question wrong you'd be a genin forever. A skill that every chuunin must have is the courage to continue even though you know you may fail. And you all passed." Ibiki explained.

"Really?" Renji asked. Ibiki nodded. "YEAH HA! DID YOU HEAR THAT TACHI? I PASSED! IN YOUR FACE HIRO! WHAT NOW? I FINISH AND I DIDN'T EVEN WRITE ONE THING DOWN! I POWN ALL OF YOU!"

"Renji-baka calm down!" Tachi said laughing.

"With that extremely loud victory cry being said, you are all dismissed." Ebisu said.

_ "Uzumaki-Hyuuga Renji, really is Uzumaki Naruto's son." _Ibiki thought. "Your next test shall be in two days. Your hokage shall give you more information tomorrow."

Before Hiro could leave Tachi grabbed his hand. "Hiro thank you for helping me cheat."

"It was nothing really. We didn't even need the answers anyway so it wouldn't have mattered if I gave you the answers anyway now would it?"

"True. But still, it's the thought that counts." Tachi replied.

"Renji didn't spell his name right." Hiro said out of the blue.

"Really? How did he spell it?"

"R - E - N - G - I."

"Figures. That's Renji. Wouldn't be the knuckle head of Konoha if he wasn't so... well Renji. There's no other way to describe him. He's just Renji." Tachi said with a smile.

Hiro nodded, but his smile faded. "Tachi, listen... there's some thing I need to tell you. Can I meet you at your house tomorrow night at maybe, eight?"

"Yeah sure. That'd be cool! See you tomorrow then!"

"Okay. Bye Tachi." Hiro said as he watched Tachi's retreating back.

**/AN: Hello again. Well, I'm not feeling good. Ready for bed, need pain medication.**

**Katy: *pulls medication bottle from out of no where***

**Me: THANK YOU, MY DEAR SWEET EDITOR!**

**Katy: You're welcome.**

**Me: Okay a big Thank you to a "missanime". And to answer you, I realized I was starting to portray Tachi as a goody goody daddy's girl and that's not how I meant to portray her so I decided that Tachi should have a wild side that she only shows to her closest friends. Thanks for the support. I really appreciate it. Over the time that I completely forgot about this story (a month or two) now that I've read it over, I've thought of a whole bunch of plot twists which I'm not going to reveal because that would ruin the story now wouldn't it?**

**Katy: In other news...**

**Me: There will be a sequel! Oh! And before I forget, I would like to ask all of you people: "Is it possible to change the title of a published story with out deleting it or screwing up anybody's favorites?"**

**Katy: THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Me: thank you!**

**Ja ne!**


	6. Broken

**/AN: Hello again everybody! Wow... three chapters in one week. I'd say that's pretty good. I just have a lot of ideas that are exploding out of my eye sockets.**

**Katy: -_-' lovely expression.**

**Me: I know ain't it? Anyway: forward!**

**Chapter 5: Broken**

-x - x - x - Hiro - x - x - x-

Hiro paced around in his room. How was he going to tell her? Why was he going to tell her? It could put her life in jeopardy. He remembered the first time it happened. How scared he was, the look on her face, what Sasuke had to do just to bring her out of it. He had to tell her... for her own good.

Hiro stomped down stairs and into the kitchen where his father was sitting at the table. "I'm telling her."

"Telling who what?" Gaara asked, not looking up from the book he was reading.

"Tachi. I'm telling her." Hiro said like he was hinting to the biggest secret in the world.

"Telling Tachi what?" Gaara responded, cautiously looking up to see his son, whose hands were on the table which he was leaning on.

"What happened the last time we saw each other. Why she doesn't remember-"

"You do know that if she goes into a frenzy from hearing this she could die, correct?"

"I know that. But if I don't, she might find out from her brother. He'd get mad and tell her everything. He's a prick." Hiro responded.

"Taro takes after his father. Sasuke's a good man now, but you should have seen him when he was Taro's age."

"Makes since." Hiro sat in the chair.

"Now thinking logically, don't you think her father should be the one to tell her? You're not anything to her, you're not related. You're not even-"  
"I kissed her." Hiro interrupted.

"You did what?"

"I'm sorry! I know I'm not supposed to have any physical contact with her but... it just... kind of... happened." The red head replied.

Gaara sighed. "Well, we're in some deep trouble."

"What do you mean?"

"You're involved. If you start ignoring her now, she'll think you led her on. And then Sasuke will be pissed at you and you _don't_ want that." Gaara said.

"No I don't."

"Well if you want to keep dating Uchiha Tachi-"

"We're not dating. I just kissed her... doesn't mean we're dating."

"Yes, well... if you want to keep... not dating her... then I suggest you do what you think is best. Good luck." Gaara said, going back to his book.

"Thanks for the help." Hiro said sarcastically, looking to the clock. "I've gotta go."

"Bye."

"Yup."

-x - x - x - Renji and Kenji-x - x - x-

"Why me?"

"Because you're my best friend and you know you want to help me." Renji replied. Kenji groaned as he was dragged into the tattoo shop.

"Welcome! My name's Midori. What can I do for you boys?" The shop keeper asked behind a desk.

"We want tattoos." Renji said.

"_He_ wants a tattoo. I'm just here for moral support." Kenji told the owner stressing the word, "he".

"Okay. Did you have something in mind?" Midori asked.

"Um... something sexy. That will impress a lady. Something like... a bowl of ramen!" Midori's eyes twitched and Kenji smacked his forehead.

"Um... how about a kitsune?"

"Is that supposed to be an insult?" Kenji asked.

"What? I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." Midori said nonchalantly.

"Renji's father is Konoha's own jinchuuriki. In him, the nine tailed fox, a kitsune. Which is why I ask, is that supposed to be an insult?"

"Brats like you wouldn't know what it's like to live in the same city as the jinchuuriki who brutally slaughtered your own family. You didn't live through the war almost thirty five years ago." Renji looked at the young woman in disbelief.

"You're thirty five? Funny, you don't look old enough to be my mother." Kenji said.

"Come on, Kenji. Aunt TenTen still has that home tattoo kit right?" Kenji nodded. "Then we can grab it and go to Lee's house. He'll do the tattoo for me." Renji replied.

-x - x - x - Tachi - x - x - x-

Tachi came down the stairs dressed in a blue and black tube top and a pair of jeans. She was wearing the necklace that Hiro had given her and her hair was up in a messy bun.

"What are you all dressed up for?" Sakura asked. Sasuke glance up from the scroll he had in his hands.

"Dressed up? I'm not dressed up. What would I be dressed up for? I'm just feeling like going casual today." Tachi replied.

"You spent all day in your room going through your closet trying on just about everything you own. You must be dressed up for something." Tachi's mother persisted.

"She has a date with _"Hiro-kun"._" Taro said coming into the room taking an apple from the center of the table. Tachi heard Sasuke growl.

Sakura cleared her throat. "Subaku Hiro? As in the Kazekage's son Hiro? Gaara's Hiro? Hiro from the Sand Hiro? That Hiro?"

"The very same." Taro said.

"Shut up. It's not a date. We're just talking as friends. Why does that have to be considered a date?" Tachi yelled.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Tachi was the first to open it. "Hey Tachi!" And with that the female Uchiha heir dragged Hiro out the door.

-x - x - x - Renji and Kenji-x - x - x-

"So can you do it?" Renji asked Lee.

"Of course I can. And if I can't do that, I shall endure-"

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just get started okay? I gotta be home by ten." Kenji said, sitting on the table next to his cousin.

"Let the tattooing... BEGIN!"

-x - x - x - Tachi and Hiro-x - x - x-

Tachi and Hiro had been walking for what seemed like hours. Finally they ended up on a very memorable bench, near the entrance to the village.

"So tell me more about yourself." Tachi said as they sat on the bench.

"Well, I'm 16. My parents are Subaku Gaara and Matsuri. My father is the Kazekage. I have red hair and hazel eyes. I've got two tattoos and plan to get more. My mother died when I was young so I don't remember much about her. My sister bugs me. My birthday is November twenty seventh. I love the rain in the rainy seasons... um... I don't have many friends but the friends I do have I cherish and try not to take them or anyone else for granted. I've kind of learned that first hand. I think that's it." Hiro's eyes were serious.

"Wow. I'm sorry about your mother."

"Don't worry about it. Like I said I don't remember much about her. So what about you?" Hiro asked.

"I'm 15. My parents are Uchiha Sasuke and Sakura. I've got black hair that used to be a dark red when I was younger. My eyes are green. I don't have any tattoo's but I want one. My brother pisses me off. My birthday is July 13. I've got plenty of friends but half of them act like idiots. I love them anyway though.

Um... I don't remember anything from before I was six. Tou-san said its because a really bad man kidnapped me on my birthday that year. They didn't find me until three days later. He said I was so frightened that I had to be taken to the hospital and I was in a coma for two months. But I don't remember so... no worries." Tachi replied.

Hiro scoffed. "Tachi... do you trust me?" He asked, looking towards the sky.

"Yeah, of course. Hiro, what's going on?"

"Then please trust me I say that you've been lied to. I was there that day on your birthday. When we were born Suna and Konoha were kind of strained. So, to keep the bond and alliance between the two my father and your father decided to betroth us. So we were technically engaged. Technically.

When your sixth birthday rolled around, we were to meet. We got along at first. I remember that I really liked you. I had known about the engagement for most of my life. My parents didn't want anything kept from me. But under Sasuke's orders I wasn't allowed to tell you anything about it.

Do you remember when you asked me how I could eat so much?" Tachi nodded. "To answer that... well this is a long story so just bear with me. My father is Suna's Jinchuuriki. When me and my twin sister was born, he found out that the demon inside of him had reproduced with him. So I have a demon inside of me as well. However my sister, somehow, didn't receive one like I did.

Well back to your sixth birthday. We were playing and for some reason the demon inside of me took over. I had tried to stop it... but all I could do was watch. He hurt you so bad Tachi...

Eventually, Tou-san had to knock me out to get control over me again. I remember that both of us were freaking out. I knew what had happened and all I wanted to do was make sure you were okay, to tell you how sorry I was, and that I didn't mean to. Father had to hold me back because you we in hysterics.

Sakura being the best medic nin in all of the five great countries tried to do all she could to bring you out of it. When nothing worked, Sasuke brought you into the Tsukiyomi Sharingan and you kind of passed out. They brought you to the hospital were you did spend just over two months in a coma.

We left for Suna soon after you awoke. Sasuke broke the engagement. I didn't quite understand everything he said. I just knew he didn't want me around you. I spent months close to a year hating myself for just living. I wouldn't eat, move, or even come out of my room for anything. I wouldn't listen to anyone at all. I'll admit, I was being a complete brat, but I was upset. I'd almost killed and innocent little girl.

Finally, my father called Naruto for an emergency meeting. He told him that he was worried about me and I wouldn't listen. Even when he told me he'd killed his own Uncle. At the time I didn't care.

Naruto told me about the time the nine tailed fox inside of him had gained up to eight tails. He'd almost killed Sakura. He told me that he felt exactly as I did. But when Sakura finally came around she told him that it wasn't his fault. That it wasn't him who attacked her but the demon inside of him.

Afterwards, I still felt terrible but I wasn't so depressed. I asked Naruto how you were feeling and he said that it was like nothing had ever happened... but that you didn't remember anything.

I guess the reason why I'm telling you this is because... I wanted to be the one to tell you because I was the one who did to you. I'm not asking for anything but your friendship and your forgiveness." Hiro took a deep breath not looking at the girl beside him.

Nothing was said for a long while.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with what my mother said." Hiro looked at Tachi. The girl brought her hand to Hiro's cheek and wiped away the tears that had fallen on his cheeks. "It wasn't you who attacked me. You have nothing to be asking forgiveness of. Before I leave, thank you for telling me the truth Hiro-kun. I'm glad it was you who told me." Tachi said before jumping off towards home, leaving Hiro to return to his home.

-x - x - x - Hiro - x - x - x-

Hiro walked through the door of the house that they had for trips to Konoha. Gaara was sitting in the same place he had been sitting in when he left. "So how did it go?"

Hiro looked at his father from his spot in front of the door. "She told me... 'Thank you and I shouldn't have asked for forgiveness and it wasn't my fault.'" Hiro replied, walking towards his room. Before he exited the kitchen, he looked over his shoulder at his father and said, "I think we'll be hearing from Sasuke soon."

-x - x - x - Tachi - x - x - x-

Tachi barged through the door of her home in tears. "Why didn't you tell me?" She shouted at her father.

"Tell you what? Tachi what happened? What did that monster do?" Sasuke said, going to his daughter in alarm.

"Tell me the truth about why I don't remember anything from before my sixth birthday! That a demon that was trapped inside a little boy was what attacked me and not that I was kidnapped by some psycho guy! Why did you keep the truth from me? Huh?"

"What's all the yelling about?" Taro said coming into the room.

"Is that why you don't let me date him? Why you think Hiro is a 'bad influence'? Subaku Hiro is no more a monster that Uncle Naruto is! Or Gaara-sama! Gaara-sama and Uncle Naruto are both Jinchuuriki just like Hiro, yet you treat Hiro like filth!"

"Tachi you have to understand, he hurt you. And it could happen again. Just like it could with Naruto or any other Jinchuuriki!" Sasuke yelled.

"So? You still let Naruto around! And why was the engagement broken? Hiro's a good person! Or did you not hear about the year after the attack? How he felt so bad that he wouldn't come out of his room?"

"Yes, I heard. It's still no excuse." Sasuke sighed. "The engagement was broken when he attacked you. When Anbu investigated they discovered that when Hiro touched your arm, the demon somehow gained control. It happens only when he touches some one. That's why he can't have any physical contact with anyone. I was hoping I wouldn't have to get a restraining order."

Tachi's eyes widened. "I've touched him many times and nothing has ever happened. I kissed him and nothing happened! The de-"

"You kissed him? Tachi are you out of your mind?" Sasuke bugged.

"Ugh. I knew I should've told somebody." Taro said from his spot at the kitchen table.

"You knew about this, Taro?" Sasuke turned to his son.

"Yeah, and he gave her that necklace that she's been wearing since he gave it to her." Taro replied.

Turning back to Tachi Sasuke said, "Give me the necklace."

"What? No. Hiro-kun gave this to me. It was a gift." Tachi replied.

Sasuke ripped the necklace from around Tachi's neck, accidentally sending a pulse of chakra through the crescent charm. "You aren't to see him again. I'm going to talk to his father about keeping his son from you. You're grounded starting now. Go to your room. Both of you."

"I hate you! You're no longer my father!" With that, Tachi fled to her room, locking the door behind her

.

-x - x - x - Sasuke - x - x - x-

Sasuke leaned against the door of his room. "Sasuke-kun? What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

"She... said she hates me..." Sasuke looked at his feet in disbelief. "That I'm no longer her father, Sakura." The Uchiha let a lone tear escape from his eyes. "I'll be back. I'm going to Gaara's... Sakura, she knows."

-x - x - x - Gaara - x - x - x-

His son is a happy-go-lucky-head-over-heels-love-sick-puppy. Great. All he needed now was an angry Uchiha knocking on his door. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Gaara opened it to see Uchiha Sasuke. Speak of the devil.

"Sasuke. How can I help you?"

"Your son has been seeing my daughter. Do you know that he told her the truth about what happened on her sixth birthday? I thought we had an agreement Subaku." Sasuke said venom laced in his words.

"Yes, yes, and we did." Gaara said. "Sadly, our children are apparently in love with each other. So I figure, why keep them from what makes them happy?"

"Simple: your son nearly killed Tachi."

"And since then, he's learned to control the demons chakra. To keep it from happening again. It's all we've been focused on since the accident. You're a fool if you plan on keeping Hiro and Tachi from seeing each other." Gaara replied.

"Keep Hiro away from Tachi or we're going to have issues." Sasuke said.

"I shall try. But keep in mind you can't escape the inevitable, Uchiha Sasuke." Gaara said bidding Sasuke good night.

-x - x - x - Tachi - x - x - x-

Uchiha Tachi sat on her bed crying her eyes out. Her mother had tried talking to her for almost an hour and a half and nothing worked. Eventually Uchiha Sakura had given up.

Suddenly a kunai shot through the crack in the window. Tachi looked at the kunai and saw a note attached to it.

_'Hey, can I come up?_

_-Hiro'_

Tachi went over to her window and saw Hiro standing on the ground below her window. She nodded and opened the window. As soon as Hiro was through the window she tackled him in a hug as her lips met his. He stiffened but relaxed into the kiss.

"I guess we'll have to meet in secret from now on, huh?" Hiro said.

"Yeah. Sasuke took my necklace." Tachi said laying her head on his chest.

"'Sasuke'?"

"You expect me to call him my father after all he's done to me? Screw that." Tachi said bitterly.

"Well, we'll just have to take back your necklace won't we then?" Hiro said. Tachi looked at him and smirked. He wouldn't leave for hours.

**/AN: ZOMG! This is the best chapter I've ever written! I poured my heart and soul into this chapter.**

**Katy: you must have poured your errors into it too. *erase erase erase***

**Me: -_-'. Okay I won't update again until I get everything written down into my notebook copy.**

**Katy: review please!**


	7. Sneaking Around

**/AN: Hey everybody! I'm getting lazy with my writing and for that I am sorry. I'm also verrrry busy.**

**Katy: I'll say!**

**Me: Anyway, I don't own blonde orange wearing ninjas.**

**Katy: Enjoy Chapter Six of Time Lines**

**Chapter Six: Sneaking Around**

Tachi rolled over in her sleep, only to bump into something hard. Her eyes fluttered open, to see a shirtless well chiseled chest. Before she could scream, a hand covered her mouth. "You're cute when you sleep; you know that, Tachi-chan?" Tachi looked up to see Hiro.

"Why are you shirtless in my bed? Or do I want to know?"

"Don't worry. We didn't do anything." Hiro said, kissing Tachi's forehead, as she snuggled into his chest. "You fell asleep in my arms on the floor. So I moved our party to the bed. I got hot so I took off my shirt, and watched you sleep. Because of the demon, it's hard for me to get to sleep, and when I do sleep, I have nightmares. So, I just decided to stay awake for a change."

"Oh. I'm sorry. What time is it?" Tachi asked, looking out the window noticing it was still dark.

"Three forty-two in the morning." Hiro replied.

"Argh. It's early! Time to go to sleep." Tachi said, closing her eyes.

"Oh no you don't. We're getting your necklace back." Hiro said, shaking Tachi awake again.

"Can't it wait until morning?"

"No. In the morning your family will be up and I can't be here then. Your father would burn me to a crisp." Hiro replied.

"We don't want that, now do we?" Tachi said, closing her eyes again.

"We gotta find out where he's hiding it first."

"Beside table. Top drawer. There's a secret bottom, so you gotta pull the drawer all the way out and find a hooky thingy to pull it up." Tachi mumbled, sitting up. "Taro and I, when we were little and still friends, used to sneak in there and search for presents. That's when we found it.

I don't see how we're actually going to manage this. Sasuke's a light sleeper, Kaa-san can sense chakra easily, but that ability becomes dull when she's pregnant."

"Oh, well that's gonna complicate things."

"Yeah. Well, let's go." Tachi said standing up. "Come on. I'm tired and looking for a necklace Sasuke stole from me isn't my idea of a good time."

Hiro masked his chakra, Tachi doing the same. Hiro tried to open the door only to find it wouldn't turn anywhere. "Huh?"

"Oh. That's right. I forgot I locked the door in my tantrum." Tachi said unlocking it.

"You throw temper tantrums at your age?" Hiro gasped.

"Yes I do. But only when Sasuke keeps life long secrets from me and steals my favorite necklace. Then I throw a temper tantrum." Tachi whispered, opening the door.

"Aw, I feel special." Hiro whispered back.

"You should." Tachi and Hiro walked out into the hallway, making sure nobody was around. The hallway was cool with the night air. _'Taro must have his window open again.' _

They went down the hall and passed a door that was pad locked. "What's in there?" Hiro whispered.

"My uncle's room." Came the simple answer.

"Oh." He had forgotten about the Uchiha massacre.

Next, they passed Suichiro's room. Before going any further, Tachi walked over to the side of the crib, Hiro following in suit.

"She's a cute baby." Hiro whispered, as they watched Suichiro sleep. He had a fear of being around children of any size. He was always afraid he would hurt them. His greatest fear was that if he was to father a child, the demon inside of him would reproduce with him, causing his offspring to become a jinchuuriki as well.

"She's bald too." Tachi said, giggling softly. Hiro smiled and continues with Tachi out of the room, back into the hallway. On the right side, there was another empty room and a door that looked like a closet. _'The shrine.'_

Tachi had always gotten bad vibes from that room. She always felt as if someone was watching her in that particular room.

Finally, they reached Tachi's parent's room. Neither said a word as they entered. Sasuke was on his side, a protective arm around Sakura's growing stomach. Hiro pointed to a drawer with a lamp on it, looking to Tachi, who nodded.

They made their way to the table, being careful to be as silent as possible. Carefully, Tachi pulled out the top drawer and took out a kunai and used it to life the secret compartment. There, in all its glory was the necklace Hiro had given Tachi the day they met.

Gently, after retrieving the necklace, Tachi let down the secret compartment. With that, they quietly left out into the hallway.

Swiftly and silently, Hiro and Tachi slipped back into Tachi's room. "I can't believe we pulled it off!" Tachi said, softly.

"Yeah, I know. I thought you said Sasuke was a light sleeper?" Hiro held his arms securely around Tachi's waist, his hands resting on the small of her back. Tachi's arms were resting on Hiro's shoulders, laying her head on his chest.

Tachi sighed. "You smell nice." She said. Hiro chuckled, Tachi feeling the vibrations in his chest.

"I didn't shower today. You'd think I'd smell like a garbage can." Hiro said.

Tachi buried her nose in his chest and took a big whiff. "You don't smell too bad."

"First you say I smell nice and then you say, I don't smell too bad. Make up your mind!" Hiro said, with a laugh.

"You smell like Hiro-kun and that's all I need. But you better take a shower before the Chuunin exams tomorrow, or else I'll have to hose you down like we did with the boys a few years ago." Tachi said.

"What did Renji do?" Hiro asked moving over to the bed, Tachi in toe.

"It wasn't just Renji. It was Renji, Kenji, Taro, and Kazu."

"Kazu?" Hiro looked puzzled in the dim light of the room.

"He's the ninja you're replacing. He and his sister, Riki died on a mission about six months ago." Tachi replied.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Tachi said reflection back to when her biggest problem was a lone zit. "Anyway, Renji had this bright idea to go with out showers for a month and see who could work up the worst stink. It was gross. Kaa-san actually made Taro eat and sleep out side.

Finally it got so bad that me, Riki, Kana, Hikari and Misa ambushed them in a surprise attack of soapy water. Our main target was Renji. His stink was ultimately the worst.

Unfortunately, we ambushed them from the top of a building and slipped. Luckily the boys were there to break our fall. We laughed for days." When she finished, they were both laying on their sides.

"You guys do weird stuff for fun." Hiro said.

"Oh? And do you have something better?"

"Back in Suna, we'd hide in the sand, and wait for someone to come along. When they did, we'd jump out in front of them and scare them silly."

"Sound like fun." Tachi said quietly, trying to force her eyes open. This didn't go with out notice.

"Sleep Tachi. I'll see you in the morning." Hiro said as Tachi drifted into a dreamless sleep

-x - x - x-

Tachi awoke to find the space beside her cold and empty. Disappointed, she rose from her bed to look in the mirror, only to find that Hiro had left a note on the mirror:

'Tachi,

I left soon after you fell asleep.

Your necklace is in the top drawer of your dresser.

-Hiro'

With that, Tachi fled to the bathroom to freshen up. When she was done, she went back to her room. Today she picked out a black, short, mini skirt, and a white, form fitting tube top. For shoes she wore black plat form flip flops. She tied her head band around her waist and brought her kunai holster with her just in case of emergency. In it, her necklace.

Putting on a grim, upset face, she raced down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Ohayo Tachi." Sakura said.

"Morning, mom." The raven haired girl replied.

"Tachi, you have a letter, from the hokage." Sasuke said, handing Tachi the letter once she sat down. She ignored him, continuing to eat. "Tachi, you can't keep ignoring me forever." No answer came from the middle Uchiha heir.

Finishing her breakfast, she tossed her plate into the sink and left, taking the letter, and slamming the door behind her. Sasuke flinched at the sound.

Fighting back a tornado of emotions, the head Uchiha left and headed for the shrine.

Lighting the incense, Sasuke let the smoke engulf him. _'Where did I go wrong?' _He thought to himself. _'I'm just trying to protect her. What do I do? How do I fix this?' _Sasuke sighed, pushing tears back. Having his daughter hate him, was tearing him apart on the inside.

Suddenly, a book dropped off the shelf of a book case on the back wall. Rising, Sasuke went to take a look. Much to his confusion, it was a scrap book Sakura had made for Tachi. He sat down, beginning to look through it.

The first picture, was Sakura as big as a whale, sleeping on the couch. He remembered that day. The day Sakura's water broke in a tantrum to "destroy Naruto."

The dobe had taken a picture of Sakura the, flash waking her from slumber. She was angry, but as soon as she stood up water had puddled around Sakura's feet. Sasuke remembered Naruto's reaction.

_/Flashback/_

_"Hey Sasuke. Look at Sakura. I bet that'd make a good picture, teme." Naruto said._

_ "Dobe, you've got a death wish." Sasuke replied, reaching for the camera Naruto held in his hands._

_ It was too late. Naruto had snapped the picture. Sakura was awake. "NARUTO! I'M TRYING TO-" it was then when they noticed the puddle around Sakura's feet._

_ "Ack! I killed the baby! Sasuke don't kill me! I'm sorr-" The head Uchiha hit the blonde over the head._

_ "Dobe! You didn't do anything. The baby's fine. But you won't be if you don't shut up!"_

_/End Flashback/_

Sasuke smiled and flipped to the next page. A picture of Sasuke holding Tachi as a baby.

_/Flashback/_

_Sasuke sat in the chair next to the hospital bed, afraid if he stood any longer, he would drop the little girl in his arms._

_ What would his parents say if she saw their grand daughter? Would his father approve of the choices he had made? Probably not._

_ Sasuke sighed. If only he knew._

_/End Flashback/_

The next picture of Tachi had been taken a few years later when she was three and Taro was four. Taro had been tall for his age. Tachi was sitting in Taro's lap, both giggling like an idiot.

They had shared a birthday until last year when Taro announced he hadn't wanted to celebrate his birthday.

The next few pages were of Tachi, Riki, Kana and Hikari, Taro, Renji, Kenji, Kazu, Naruto, himself, Sakura and Kakashi sensei, at other ninja functions, The team photo.

The Team Seven photo looked different than his team photo. In his, Sasuke had been brooding, looking off to his right. Sakura in the middle cheery with a smile. And then Naruto scowling at him. Kakashi had been behind him, his hands on Sasuke and Naruto's head.

Tachi's Team Seven photo had been completely different and unorganized. Kakashi had a hand behind his head and was smiling awkwardly behind his mask. Renji was cowering under Tachi, who had her fist raised to hit him. Kenji was stuck between the two trying to get them to stop fighting.

The next few pages were articles from the attack. Sasuke sighed. He needed some advise and fast. He knew who he was going to, to get it.

-x-x-x-Renji and Kenji -x-x-x-

"My arm hurts!" Renji cried anime tears.

"I told you it was a bad idea. You don't listen." Kenji replied, running a hand through his brown hair.

"Ugh!"

-x-x-x- Tachi -x-x-x-

Tachi sat on the bench she had been sitting on the night before. So many thoughts had been going through her head. Finally, she sighed, opening the letter she took.

'Uchiha Tachi,

At 8: 30 A.M tomorrow morning, you are to meet with your team at your assigned training grounds for the second portion of the chuunin exams.

You are to bring only as much as you can carry.

-The Sixth'

"So I guess you know about the incident." Tachi looked up to see Kakashi looming over her, his favorite orange book in hand.

"Porn rots your brain, sensei. Why do you read that stuff?" Tachi replied.

"You're avoiding the question Tachi."

The Uchiha sighed. "Does everybody know about it?" She asked, burying her face in her hands. Kakashi sat down beside her.

"Pretty much. Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"What I don't understand is why nobody told me until now. Why everybody lied to me?" Tachi mumbled through her hands.

"I wish I had the answers to those questions, but Sasuke is a complex person. I think it's because he's lost everyone before. Back then, he was crushed. If he loses even one person now, he might implode altogether. When you were in a coma he never left your side." Kakashi explained.

"That answers the first question. Lets replace it with another one shall we?" Tachi sighed. "Why does he hate Hiro?"

"You'll have to ask Gaara that." Tachi sighed again. "I know you're angry and confused right now Tachi, but you shouldn't hate him. He just wants to protect you." Kakashi said, looking at his pupil.

"I'll hate who I please." Tachi replied.

"You do that Tachi. Just remember, you might regret it someday." Kakashi said, as the female Uchiha left the scene, taking out the necklace from her kunai holster and putting it around her neck.

-x-x-x- Hiro -x-x-x-

The red head had tossed and turned all day. He couldn't sleep and it was starting to tick him off.

He didn't see how he was supposed to pass the second portion of the chuunin exams if he couldn't get even a wink of sleep.

"Hiro! Are you ever gonna get you lazy butt out of bed?" Hiro looked to the door, to see his twin sister standing there.

"I didn't sleep last night. I can't sleep. I have a head ache." Hiro explained

Chihiro dead panned and her eyes widened. "Are you having issues again?" The blonde went into the room and sat down on Hiro's bed. "If you are, you have to tell Tou-san."

"I know that. I'll tell you if it gets worse." Hiro replied, shutting his eyes again. Hearing Chihiro leave the room, he knew that his sister was going to tell his father. Finally, sleep took over Hiro's body.

After what seemed like minutes, Gaara was knocking on his door. "What do you want?" Hiro yelled, aggravated that he had been awoken.

"Your sister told me that your issues have been acting up again. Listen, if you need your seal to be resealed, we need to do it before the chuunin exams tomorrow, Hiro." Gaara said.

"Tattletale." Hiro mumbled, into the pillow. "I'm fine. I'll tell you if my symptoms get worse. Just leave me alone. I'm tired."

"I know how you feel Hiro. I'm never able to sleep. I haven't slept since I was three years old." All that came out of Hiro's mouth was a small snore. Gaara sighed in frustration, and left the room.

-x-x-x- Kakashi -x-x-x-

His students were conflicted. Again. It seemed his students were always in some kind of problem. Its like the elders always assigned him the children with issues.

With Naruto it was his problem with the demon inside of him. That and his hyperactivity. Although he's overcome it, he still has his ups and downs. And the poor man still acted like a child.

With Sasuke, it was his vengeful attitude and the urge to defeat his brother. Kakashi hadn't watched him close enough and Sasuke had betrayed the village right under his nose. And to this day his brother still roams free.

With Sakura… well, Sakura had been a love-sick puppy. Always chasing after Sasuke. Kakashi hated to admit it, but her know-it-all attitude annoyed him. And the fact that she couldn't defend herself worth crap back then, slowed them down. Of course, all of that was different now.

Oh and let's not forget the love triangle. Naruto liked Sakura, Sakura loved Sasuke, and Sasuke loved no one… so he thought. And then somewhere Ino fit into the equation by being in "love" with Sasuke, causing the rivalry between Sakura and Ino.

Nowadays, Renji is in love with Tachi, Tachi is in love with Hiro, and Kenji likes Naara Kana. Kenji and Kana… Kakashi laughed. Opposites attract, he guessed.

Kakashi sighed. He was getting too old for this.

"Kakashi." a voice said beside him.

"Sasuke?"

"I have a problem. I need some advice." The head Uchiha replied.

"Of course you do." Kakashi sighed. What's the problem Sasuke?"

"I talked to Gaara." Sasuke began. "He believes that Tachi and Hiro are in love with each other."

"Okay. And if they are…?" Sasuke let out a low growl. "That's a bad thing?"

"Aa."

"Why is that? Hiro seems like a good kid. What's wrong with him?" Kakashi questioned.

"He's sixteen. He's clearly got an attitude problem and a bad temper. He nearly killed my daughter. He's the son of the Kazekage. He's a jinchuuriki. Did I mention he nearly killed my daughter?" Sasuke replied, arms folded across his chest.

It was silent for a few moments as Kakashi thought. "Aren't you a year and a half older that Sakura?"

"Hn."

"And don't you remember when you chidori'd Sakura?"

"I just gave her a few jolts. It wasn't nearly enough to kill her." Sasuke cornered, annoyed that Kakashi would use that against him.

"She was in the hospital for a month." Sasuke sent a glare towards his ex-sensei. Leaving the subject be, Kakashi continued. "He's a really smart kid. He created a necklace that can be used as a walkie talkie and a locator. He gave Tachi a necklace so he knows where she is in the chuunin exams.

Naruto nearly killed Sakura because of his demon. It only happened once. Hiro attacked Tachi because of his demon and it only happened once as well.

Between him, his sister and the entire Suna Ninja Academy, Hiro scored the highest marks.

He defended her in that fight with Taro. He seems like a pretty good kid to me. Plus he's a jonin level shinobi."

"Tachi doesn't have the necklace. I took it from her." Sasuke said. "And if he's jonin level, why is he still a genin?"

"Gaara wouldn't let him take the chuunin exams until this year."

"You're not helping. What should I do?" Sasuke was becoming frustrated. "About?" Kakashi asked.

"Tachi and Hiro." Sasuke said through clenched teeth.

"Let nature run its course, Sasuke. If Hiro and Tachi truly love each other, things will work out. She's growing up. You can't keep her from little boys forever. You have to let her make her own choices. Weather the decisions she makes are good or bad, so be it. Life's a learning experience. You know that first hand, Sasuke." Kakashi said, trying to get through to his old pupil.

"Let her make her own decisions? I do that and she might end up pregnant." Sasuke said, dreading the thought.

"There are a lot of things that _might_ happen, Sasuke. She _might _be killed on a mission. She _might _bekidnapped. She _might_ be poisoned. She _might _get sick and die. What would you do if that happened? There would be nothing you could do, Sasuke." Kakashi said, getting frustrated with the Uchiha's stubborn attitude.

It was silent for a while, and then Kakashi left leaving Sasuke to ponder what he had said.

-x-x-x- Tachi -x-x-x-

Tachi didn't know why she came here, it was an impulse. She just let her feet wander. Well if she was here she might as well take the opportunity to do what she wanted to. She knocked.

Gaara opened the door. "Hiro's in bed Tachi. He hasn't been feeling well. I'll tell him you stopped by though."

"Actually, Kazekage-sama… I came here to ask you something." Tachi said twiddling with her fingers behind her back.

"I have a feeling that this will be a rather long conversation. Come in Tachi-san." Gaara said, coming into the living room. Tachi shut the door behind her, and followed Gaara to the couch in the living room.

"Kazekage-sama-"

"Gaara, if you will. Sometime in the future, we will most likely be in laws." Gaara said.

"Oh… um… has Hiro said anything to you?"

"No. But when Hiro wants something, he doesn't let it go with out a fight. So, don't give up hope yet, Tachi-san."

"I see. Ka- I mean, Gaara-san, I was wondering if you remember what Sasuke told you when he broke the engagement when I was in the hospital?" Tachi asked.

"You're calling him Sasuke now?" Tachi nodded. Gaara wouldn't pursue the matter. Gaara thought for a moment, thinking of how to word the story. Finally, he sighed and looked to Tachi. "That happened almost ten years ago, but… I assure you none of it is sketchy in the least. Let's see, where to start.

You hadn't been diagnosed yet at the time, your heart had already stopped four times so they were still trying to get you stable. Your father, Hiro and I were the only ones in the waiting room. Your mother was waiting outside of the emergency room doors down the hall, along with Kakashi and Naruto. Chihiro went with her mother back to Suna. Hiro was sleeping on the couch next to me. At the time, Sasuke and I were having a stare down. We had already gotten into a fight twice, broken up by Naruto. It was clear that he was thoroughly angered.

Then the fighting started again. He busted my lip, I broke his nose.

_/flashback/_

_"Fighting won't solve anything, Uchiha. It won't change the past." Gaara said, licking the blood from his lip._

_ "You don't think I don't know that? Kakashi said not to take my anger out on the building so why not take it out on the source of the problem?" Sasuke yelled, lunging for the Kazekage again, who dodged, and kicked Sasuke out from under his feet._

_ They fought for a while, and finally, Sasuke was pinned to the ground kunai against his throat; their noses almost touching. Sasuke had Gaara in a headlock a kunai against the Kazekage's throat as well. _

_ "It seems we're at a stand still, Uchiha. Like I said, fighting never solves anything." Gaara said releasing his hold on the Uchiha only to have Sasuke pin Gaara down on the tile floor._

_ "The engagement's off. I'm not having Tachi marry a monster just so she can be killed. If you don't keep that beast away from my daughter, drastic measures will be taken. I'll stay away from you and you stay away from me, and that includes your spawn. Clear?" Sasuke said, resisting the urge to spit in the Kazekage's face._

_ "Crystal."_

_ Suddenly another presence was with them. "Uchiha Sasuke, your daughter is in stable condition but, she's in a coma and there's no telling when she'll wake up. It could be days, weeks, or maybe even months. You can come in to see her if you like." A nurse said._

_ Getting up, Sasuke said, "We're through here." and went in to check on his daughter._

_/End Flashback/_

"It was only after that when Hiro told me that he saw everything." Gaara finished.

"Ugh, Sasuke's out to get me. Its like he doesn't want me to be happy. I hate him." Tachi said.

"He cares about you Tachi, but he's blind to what's right in front of him. If you want, I could help you meet in secret, until all of this blows over." Gaara replied.

"Really? That would be great! Thanks Gaara! You're the best!" Tachi said, hugging the Kazekage and running out the door.

Gaara sat there for a moment, realizing what he had gotten himself into. "Women are going to be the death of me, I swear it."

-x-x-x- Sasuke -x-x-x-

Sasuke came home late that night. Sakura was sitting on the couch when he walked through the door. "Sakura, what are you doing up this late?"

"I couldn't sleep. He won't stop moving." she said, placing a hand on her swelling stomach.

"Aa." Sasuke said, taking a seat beside her. "Is Suichiro asleep?" Sakura nodded. "Does Tachi still hate me?"

"I'm afraid so." Sakura heard Sasuke sigh. This was going to bother him so much.

**/I'm not sure when I'll update next. I could be next week or it could be next month. I have no clue. But don't forget to leave reviews!/**


	8. Enter! The Forest of Death!

**/AN: This is great! I'm proud of myself! Two chapters in one week. But you'll have to wait for the next chappie cuz... I haven't finished writing it yet.**

**Katy: and with all of the mistakes you make, we still have to edit it.**

**Me: yeah, well. I don't own Naruto. *sigh***

**Katy: Chapter Seven: Enter! The Forest of Death!**

-x-x-x- Tachi -x-x-x-

Tachi woke with fifty giant butterflies in her stomach. She couldn't wait to get the chuunin exams done and over with.

After she showered, she dressed in a black spaghetti strap tank top and a black skirt. She stocked her kunai holster with various weapons. Before she left, she tied the necklace Hiro had given her around her neck.

"Tachi, are you going to eat breakfast before you leave?" Sakura asked.

"Can't. Gotta leave early! Bye Kaa-san! See you later!" Tachi said as she walked out the door.

-x-x-x- Taro -x-x-x-

Taro didn't need to wake up. He had been awake for at least an hour. He was pumped! Nothing could stand in his way, not even that bossy, ignorant brat, Hiro.

Kami he hated that kid. He just steps in and thinks he can run the team. Who died and made him sensei?

Taro's glad his father knows about Hiro and Tachi. He didn't show it, but he was worried about his sister. He didn't want her hurt physically or emotionally.

When he was dressed and packed, he left.

-x-x-x- Uzumaki-Hyuuga -x-x-x-

"Renji! Where's my kunai holster?" Misa yelled, out her bed room door.

"How am I supposed to know?" You had it last! Do you know where my head band is?" Renji replied, throwing clothes around his room.

"No! Are you out of the bathroom yet? I have to take a shower!" Renji had just rushed in there searching for his head band. Their rooms were connected by a bathroom with two sinks, a huge tub and a shower. While searching for his head band, Renji was brushing his teeth and hair at the same time while opening the cabinet with his foot.

"No I'm not! Go use Kaa-san and Tou-san's bathroom! I'm using this one!" Renji yelled around toothpaste.

"Tou-san's taking a shower! You go use that one!" Misa yelled at the blonde.

Renji stopped for a split second to look at the time. "Kuso! Its eight fifteen! Where's my headband?" He ran out of the bathroom, Misa running in after him.

-x-x-x- Hyuuga -x-x-x-

"Hikari! Are you ready yet?" Kenji called up the stairs.

"Almost Aniki!"

Almost five minutes later, Hikari went down the stairs.

"Let's go."

-x-x-x- Naara -x-x-x-

"Kana! Get up! You're going to be late!" Ino called.

"I don't wanna!" Kana replied.

"Do you want to be a genin forever? Do what your mother says or you'll never hear the end of it." Shikamaru said.

"You people are so troublesome! Getting up early is a drag."

-x-x-x- Subaku -x-x-x-

"Are you two ready for the exam?" Gaara asked.

"I'm tired. I'm hungry. I'm probably going to end up kicking Uchiha Taro's rear end. And my head is full of nightmares from night's passed. Yeah, I'm just peachy." Hiro said, sitting at the kitchen table, arms folded.

"You're just a ray of sunshine this morning, aren't you, Aniki?" Chihiro said, smirking.

"How 'bout I shove my foot so far up your behind you'll have internal bleeding and your intestines come out tangled around my foot? Then we'll see who the ray of sunshine is." Hiro replied darkly.

"I oughta ki-"

"Settle down, you two. Thank Kami you're not on the same team."

-x-x-x- Team 7 -x-x-x-

"Where the heck is Kakashi? It's eight forty five!" Renji said, standing on top of the bridge railing.

"Pipe down, Renji. You're going to give me a head ache before the exam even starts." Kenji said, throwing a pebble at his cousin's head.

"Do you two ever stop fighting?" Kakashi said, popping up behind them.

"You're late!" Tachi and Renji cried, accusing ling, pointing the finger of doom in Kakashi's general direction.

"I've been late for the past thirty years. That's not going to change." Kakashi replied.

"Are we going to have to do that stinking bell test again?" Kenji asked, annoyed at his teams routine.

"If only it were that easy. But sadly, it isn't. We're going to the forest east of here. That is where your second exam will be. Follow me."

Soon they arrived at a clearing, where a bunch of other teams were. Tachi looked around. There were tall gates surrounding the forest. "Are we going in there?" she asked.

"There's no where else to go. What do they expect us to do, exactly?" Renji asked.

Suddenly a loud bang was heard and all was silent. "Welcome, all, to the second portion of the chuunin exams. I am Mitarashi Anko, your instructor.

For the next five days you will be locked inside the Anbu training grounds: The Forest of Death.

By the end of the five days you are to report to the tower in the center of the forest. Sound easy, right? There's a catch." Anko held up dark green scroll and a light blue scroll. "These are the Heaven and Earth scrolls. You must have both to pass the exam. You will each get one scroll. When the exam begins, you will begin searching for the matching scroll. There are eight teams; four Earth scrolls and four Heaven scrolls. Four teams won't make it to the third portion.

Before you being, you must fill out forms that simply state we are not responsible that simply states we are not responsible for injury, death, or stolen or lost items. They're coming around to now."

Tachi looked over to Hiro, who stood a few hundred feet away. "Uchiha Tachi, Hyuuga Kenji, Uzumaki-Hyuuga Renji, please step forward." They did as they were told. "You have been given the Heaven scroll. Make your way to gate twelve to await your final instructions." Anko said as they handed in their signed forms.

"Subaku Hiro, Uchiha Taro, Uzumaki-Hyuuga Misa, please step forward to claim your scroll." They were given and Earth scroll and told to head to gate thirteen.

"Subaku Chihiro, Naara Kana, Hyuuga Hikari, please step forward to claim your scroll." They were given a Heaven scroll and told to go to gate fourteen.

"Rai, Kizumo Aiko, Nakamura Mizuki, come get your scrolls." The Rain team received an Earth scroll and went to gate fifteen.

"Hidari Kaname, Yokkaichi Shijiro, Yokkaichi Ayaka." The team from Lightning received an Earth scroll and went to gate sixteen.

"Shiro, Hitomi, and Ryo." The team from Mist received a Heaven scroll and went to gate seventeen.

"Rinma, Shiki, and Haruka." The Earth team received a Heaven scroll and went to gate eighteen.

"Akane, Kaoru, and Amaya." the Rock team received an Earth scroll and was sent to gate nineteen.

"Now that all of that is taken care of, here are your objectives: find the other scroll. Doesn't matter how you get it, just get both scrolls. Meet at the center tower in exactly five day. Whatever you do, don't open either scroll until you get inside the tower, or you'll be sorry. And lastly, don't die." Slowly, the gates opened. "Begin."

-x-x-x- Tachi, Renji, Kenji -x-x-x-

Kenji looked to Renji and back to Tachi. "Tachi would keep a hold of the scroll? If Renji keeps it, he'll lose it. If I keep it, Renji will cause me to lose it." Renji gave Kenji a dirty look. Kenji rolled his eyes at the boy's antics.

"Yeah, sure." Tachi took the scroll from Kenji and put it in her scroll pocket.

"Now what?" Renji asked, staring blankly at his teammates.

-x-x-x- Hiro, Taro, Misa -x-x-x-

"I'm gonna keep the scroll. Don't complain, Hiro. Oh, and by the way, you got me grounded. Thanks. The only reason I'm even taking this stinking exam is because you caused me to get into the fight and now Tou-san won't let me take the Anbu exams." Taro said, begrudgingly.

"First off, the fight wasn't my fault. Secondly, your big mouth is going to end up getting our scroll taken. Then we'll have to work twice as hard." Hiro replied. _'Tachi, we haven't been here five minutes and you idiot brother is already getting on my nerves. I'm not in the mood today. Not at all.' _

_'Kick his rear end and be done with it. Have you noticed the silence in this place? It's creepy."_ Tachi replied.

_'Yeah. I haven't heard a thing. Be careful, Tachi.' _Hiro replied.

_'You too.' _

"Just give me the scroll, Taro."

"No!"

"Face it, you're irresponsible. Just give me the scroll so we can get on with the exam." Hiro said, beginning to lose his temper.

"Taro, please. Give Hiro the scroll. We need a game plan. Stop being so stubborn." Misa said, softly.

Grumbling, Taro complied with Misa's request.

"Thank you, Misa." The Kunoichi nodded, in response. Next, Hiro pulled out a map from his back pocket, unfolding it and laying it on the forest floor. "This is a map of the Forest of Death."

"How did you get that? How did you even know this was the second exam. Have you take the Chuunin Exams before?" Taro rambled, enraged that he hadn't thought of bringing a map.

"Library, connections, and no." Hiro replied. Suddenly, a scream was heard through out the forest. _'Tachi! Are you okay?'_

_ 'Yeah. Did you hear that?'_

_ 'That's why I called. I thought the screaming was you.' _Hiro replied, relieved.

_'I'm fine.'_

_ 'Good.' _Hiro, turned back to the map. "We're at gate thirteen. So we're at the west side of the forest. The closest teams with a Heaven scroll is Chihiro's team and Tachi's team. But, personally, I want to check out that mist team." Hiro said, pointing to various places on the map.

"Mist are wimps. Taking their scroll will be easy." Taro said, looking at the map.

"You two finally agree on something! It's a miracle!" Misa said, happily, glomping the closest person to her, which happened to be Taro. Taro's face turned as red as a tomato.

"Um… M- Misa…"

Finally, Misa realized what she was doing and quickly backed off of Taro. "I- I'm s-sorry, Tar-ro." The eldest Uchiha heir nodded.

"So it's settled then. We head east." Hiro said, relieving the two of their awkward situation.

-x-x-x- Chihiro, Kana, Hikari -x-x-x-

"Wow. Who would've guessed that this would be the second part of the chuunin exams?" Kana asked, loudly, hands on her hips, looking up.

"I know. And what did that chick mean by, 'don't die'? I mean seriously! It's as quiet as a grave yard out here." Hikari replied.

"That's what you should be afraid of. We should head north. There should be a river nearby." Chihiro said, having memorized the map Hiro had.

-x-x-x- Tachi, Renji, Kenji -x-x-x-

They had begun walking toward the tower to get into the forest more. "Hey Tachi! Check out my new tattoo!" Renji said, flexing his arm, showing off a snarling wolf.

"Cool, Renji. When did you get the done?" Tachi asked, not really enthused.

"A few days ago. Lee did it for me for free." Renji replied, waggling his eyebrows, like he was cool.

"Sweet. I'm thinking about getting one too." Tachi replied.

"As long as I don't have to go with you." Kenji said.

-x-x-x- Anko -x-x-x-

"Well, this is boring. We've only heard on screams so far. Boy… flip the switch." Suddenly, the ground began to shake and screams were heard through out the forest as trees fell.

-x-x-x- Tachi, Renji, Kenji -x-x-x-

There were trees and rock in front of her. Kenji and Renji were no where to be found. "Kenji? Renji?" Tachi looked around for her teammates. "Com on Guys! Stop messing with me!" A tear slid down Tachi's cheek, as she took small steps back. "Renji, if this is your idea of a joke, it isn't funny!" Finally, finding no trace of Renji or Kenji, Tachi ran away from the rubble.

-x-x-x- Chihiro, Kana, Hikari -x-x-x-

"Is everybody okay?" Chihiro asked, after the earthquake ended.

"I'm fine." Kana, said, standing up from her spot on the ground. Rubbing her tail bone, she said, "What about you? Hikari?"

When no answer came, Chihiro and Kana looked over to where Hikari stood. Her head was down, her shoulders and arms limp. Kana, slowly turner her around so that her back was facing the other two girls.

On Hikari's neck was a huge pink worm like thing. Hikari screamed and grabbed a nearby branch, beating the thing off of her teammate. "Get off of her!" With that, the thing slithered away.

Gaining her ability to speak again, Hikari said, "W-what was that thing?" Kana helped her sit down.

"That was a tree leach. They're silent and deadly and as small as your pinky finger when they're hungry. They drop down from the trees and slither up to the base of your neck and drink you dry in a matter of minutes and grow as they drink. We have to be careful of those." Chihiro replied. "Are you alright?"

Hikari nodded. "Just a little dizzy."

"We'll rest for a bit, then." The sand nin said, looking over to kana who, for once, was at a loss for words.

-x-x-x- Hiro, Taro, Misa -x-x-x-

"MISA! OH SWEET KAMI! IS SHE ALIVE?" Taro asked hurriedly.

Misa was under a fallen tree, unconscious. Hiro checked her pulse. It was faint, but there. "Yes. She's alive. Help me move the tree." Taro nodded and took a hold of the other side of the tree. Together, they moved the tree, off of the girl. The Hyuuga heiress had a big gash in her left leg.

"Aw, crap. We have to go five days with _that_?" Taro asked.

"I know of plants that will prevent infection. But you'll need to stay here and make sure insects don't get into the wound." Hiro replied. Taro opened his mouth to protest, but decided against it.

With that, Hiro ran off swiftly into the woods. He would need four ingredients. Two, would stop the infection, one would ease any pain Misa had, and the last would clot the blood so she wouldn't bleed to death. He would need to act fast.

-x-

It was nearly sunset and Hiro had found three of the four ingredients he needed for the antibacterial medicine. _'Just my luck.' _He thought to no one in particular. Just as it started to rain, he found the final ingredient.

Suddenly, a sobbing sound was heard. Jumping down from the trees, he looked around and followed the noise. Finally he saw a black haired girl, her head buried in her knees that were pulled up to her chest. A Konoha headband on her waist. "Tachi?" The Uchiha heiress looked up, her eyes red and puffy from crying. "Tachi! What happened?" Hiro held her in his arms.

"The earthquake knocked over a bunch of t-trees and afterwards, R-renji and Kenji disappeared. I got scared, s-so I ran." Tachi replied.

"Okay. Just let me send these ingredients off to Taro and I'll stick with you." Hiro said, summoning a hawk, putting the ingredients in a satchel and dismissing the summoning. "I hope your brother knows how to use medicinal plants."

"He should. Kaa-san taught us how to use them. He just never remembered what plants did what." Tachi said, a little calmer now that she wasn't alone.

-x-x-x- Chihiro, Kana, Hikari -x-x-x-

Chihiro had been leading the way and they had been walking for hours. Night had fallen. "Chihiro, when are we going to rest?"

"There's a team nearby. We might be able to get the other scroll." Chihiro replied.

"But we're tired!" Kana said, loudly.

"Shut up loud mouth! They're gonna hear you!" Hikari replied, covering her friend's mouth.

"Hey did you hear that?" A voice asked.

"Oh, you've done it now!" Three people came out of the trees in front of them. They had Earth headbands.

"You there! Show us your scroll." The middle nin said. Chihiro pulled out the Earth scroll.

"Drop your guard, Shijiro." The nin on the left said. The middle nin, apparently named, Shijiro, relaxed. "I am Hidari Kaname. This is Yokkaichi Shijiro, and Kara. We are the Earth team."

"I'm Subaku Chihiro of the Sand. My teammates, Hyuuga Hikari and Naara Kana."

"Why is Sand teaming with Leaf?" The female, Kara asked.

"Leaf suffer two casualties and my brother and I are the chosen replacements." Chihiro replied.

"I see. Since we do not have opposite scrolls, there is no reason to fight. We'll be on our way then." Chihiro nodded as the team stalked off.

"That was weird." Hikari said.

-x-x-x- Tachi, Hiro -x-x-x-

Hiro laid a blanked on the forest floor, for he and Tachi to lay on. They talked for a while and eventually fell asleep.

Tachi shot up in her spot on the ground. "Hiro, what was that?"

The boy stirred. "Huh? What?"

"I heard something." Tachi replied.

"Are you sure?" Hiro asked, sitting up, half asleep. Tachi nodded. Suddenly, a giant snake jumped out at Hiro. Tachi screamed, pulling a kunai, from her holster. Just as the snake was about to pierce Hiro's body. Tachi jumped on top of the reptile, stabbing its head multiple times. Satisfied, Tachi jumped off of the reptile as it died.

"Hiro! Are you okay?" Tachi asked, worriedly.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks for saving my life." Hiro replied, now fully awake.

"No problem. But can we leave? That thing freaks me out." Hiro nodded.

"That wasn't very nice. It seems you've killed my pet." A voice said behind them.

Hiro and Tachi turned around to see a pale snake like man with long black hair and immobile arms. "Hello again… Uchiha Tachi…"

**/AN: Thank you for the people who reviewed and gave me feedback! It helped a lot. Cookies for those people! You rock! Don't forget to leave reviews!/**


	9. Ambush!

**/AN: Sorry for the late update. School has started so updates are going to become scarce. Okay, Someone pointed out to me that I have been neglecting Sasuke and Sakura. This is true. So I have added some scenes! I hope you enjoy! With out further adue:**

**Chapter Eight: Ambush!**

"How d-do you know my name?" Tachi asked, Hiro wrapping his arms around Tachi, protectively.

"More importantly, who are you?" Hiro asked bravely, glaring at the snake sanin.

"My name is Orochimaru. I am one of the legendary sanin. If my memory serves me well, I believe you are the son of the fourth Kazekage, Subaku Hiro." Hiro let out a low growl.

"What do you want?" Hiro asked, becoming annoyed with the sanin's games.

"To talk. That's all." The snake replied, and evil smirk playing on his lips. Hiro glared and tightened his grip on Tachi's waist. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"Really? What makes you think that?" Hiro said sarcastically.

"I assure you, if I planned to do anything more, I would tell you." The sanin replied.

"I think I remember now…" Tachi said, gaining her voice back. "You were on Lady Tsunade's team a long time ago. When you were denied the title of Hokage, you fled the village and joined the Akatsuki. You wear kicked out because you were weak. Then you created the sound village and attacked Konoha. You're the reason why I can't over use my sharingan without going blind!"

"What are you talking about?" Hiro asked, looking at Tachi confused.

"He gave Sasuke the Heaven Curse Seal when he took the chuunin exams. Having never actually killed the person who gave it to him, Sasuke unintentionally passed it on to my brother and I. It causes us to use too much chakra when we use the sharingan and we go blind." Tachi explained. Hiro nodded.

"How do you know all that you brat?" Orochimaru was furious.

"Simple. I'm smart. I read." Tachi replied, slowly gaining her courage back.

"I'm flattered. I'm in the text books now."

"You shouldn't be. You're an s-ranked criminal! At least Uncle Naruto is in the text books because he does stuff to benefit his people!" Tachi said, flinching at a rustling sound coming from the bushes behind her.

"It appears we are being intruded on. Goodbye for now, Uchiha Tachi. I'll be watching. And sometime… in the near future, I'm sure we'll meet again…" The sanin hissed, melting away into the dirt.

Tachi sat frozen in place, rigid in Hiro's arms. "Tachi, are you okay?" Hiro asked. With that, Tachi collapsed on the spot, only to have Hiro catch her before falling to the ground.

Suddenly, Taro came out of the bushes, Misa over his shoulder.

-x-x-x- Rock -x-x-x-

Itachi sat in his quarters, looking over the mission file he was given twenty seven years ago. The paper was old and yellowed and his ninja photo made him look young.

He missed his brother and his family. He missed Konoha. He missed not having grey hair.

Oh yes, the great Uchiha Itachi found his first grey hair the other day. It was so terrible, he almost cried. Almost. Deidara and Sasori had a laughing fit but were reprimanded.

_**/flashback/**_

_Nanami was combing through Itachi's hair with her fingers, straddling his lap, when she noticed something different. Maybe she had just imagined it. Maybe his hair was just reflecting light in a weird way. But there was also the off chance that… Nanami combed through Itachi's hair again. Sure enough, It was there in clear daylight. A grey hair. She stifled a laugh. "Itachi-sama… you have a grey hair."_

_ Itachi stiffened under her. "Don't joke, Nanami."_

_ "Itachi-sama, I wasn't joking, go look in the mirror. Really, I'm being honest." Nanami replied._

_ Doing as he was advised, Itachi went to the bathroom and looked at his hair in the mirror. His eyes widened at the new found demon. Suddenly, a hand appeared in the mirror, reaching for the hair. "Nanami are you insane? Pulling it will only make more sprout out!"_

_ "Wow, Itachi-sama. That was really out of character."_

_ "Hn." Was the only answer that she got._

_ Later at the Akatsuki meeting, Nanami went around yelling, "Itachi has a grey hair!" over and over again. Deidara and Sasori were the only ones that laughed._

_**/End Flashback/**_

At least he had Nanami. Nanami was about twenty eight years old. She was Konan's niece. She had the same blue hair, she just didn't wear the paper flower in her hair.

"Itachi-sama!" The Uchiha looked over to the door way to see Nanami. "What are we doing today? You've got your bags packed for something." The girl said, taking a spot beside the Uchiha.

"Orochimaru won't wait for long to kidnap Tachi. We need to move now or we won't be able to save her. If I'm right, once Sasuke finds out she's missing he'll go after her." Itachi replied.

"Then we just come back here?"

"I'm done with Akatsuki. Madara has taken over and I want nothing to do with his twisted plans."

"Rebellion. I like it. We leave tonight?" Nanami asked. Itachi nodded.

-x-x-x- Chihiro, Kana, Hikari -x-x-x-

Chihiro, Kana, and Hikari were sleeping; Hikari and Kana huddled together and Chihiro off to the side.

The sun was rising as a paper bomb went off in the distance, causing Hikari to stir. "Kana, did you hear that boom?" she asked, as a kunai shot between her legs, causing Chihiro and Kana to awaken.

"Amaya! You idiot! You missed!" a voice yelled.

"She did have the worst aim at the academy. Why did you let her throw it?" another replied.

"If you think my aim is bad, why didn't you throw it?" The girl, probably Amaya, yelled.

"We know you're there, you might as well just show yourselves." Hikari said.

Reluctantly, the three jumped down from the trees. "That didn't work out well, did it?" One said. "We are the team from Lightning. I am Akane. This is Kaoru and Amaya. We want your scroll."

"That much is obvious." Chihiro said, before she was attacked by Amaya.

"You want our scroll, you'll have to fight for it." Hikari said.

"Like wise." Kaoru replied, lunging for Kana.

Chihiro pulled a kunai from her holster on her leg, and threw it at Amaya who dodged it, flying back about twenty feet; giving Chihiro a chance to lean to the ground, kicking Amaya off her feet.

"You're gonna pay for-" before she could say finish, Chihiro threw a punch, causing the girl to stagger. To finish Amaya off, Chihiro summoned a gust of wind, throwing the nin into a tree, knocking her out cold.

"Hikari! Find out who has the scroll!" Chihiro called.

"AWRIGHT! BYAKUGAN!" The Hyuuga looked from person to person. "Kaoru!" Kaoru became distracted from hearing his name called, an epic mistake, giving Kana a chance to give him an upper hook to the chin, causing a sickening crack. Kana gasped and inched away as Kaoru's lifeless body hit the ground.

Akane and Hikari stopped fighting. "You have your prize. Amaya will not be happy when she finds out her brother has been slain. We'll take our leave." Akane rushed over to Amaya, throwing her over his shoulder, running off into the woods.

Kana was now on the ground sobbing, her blonde hair covering her face. Her tiny frame, shaking.

Slowly, not knowing what to do, Hikari went to comfort her friend. Once Chihiro disposed of Kaoru's body, she joined them.

Awkwardly, in an attempt to comfort the girl, she took Kana's hands and said, "That was your first kill. It'll get easier. I promise." Chihiro gave the girl a smile. In turn, Kana hugged her.

-x-x-x- Tachi, Hiro -x-x-x-

"Taro? What the heck are you doing with my sister? And who was that you were talking to? Do you realize how long we've been looking for you?" The elder Uchiha heir was furious.

"You sister was separated from her team during the earthquake. I found her while looking for the ingredients. I wasn't going to leave her alone. We were just ambushed by Orochimaru. And probably all night." Hiro replied. "Speaking of ingredients, did you properly tend to Misa's wound?"

"First off, this is a battle of wits. You should have left her alone. Tou-san's not going to be happy about this. Secondly, when we get to the tower you have to tell the officials. And yes, I did dress Misa's wounds properly. Or are you forgetting that my Kaa-san is the greatest medic in all the five nations?" Taro replied.

"How could I forget?" Hiro asked, as Taro laid Misa next to the unconscious Tachi. Hiro looked at the wrappings on Misa's left leg. They were wet and soaked with blood. "When was the last time these bandages were changed, Taro?"

"They've never been changed. What if I need the spares? Then what?" Taro replied.

"That's selfish of you. What would your father say at such a selfish act? Better yet? Are you going to be the one who tells the Hokage that his daughter died from an infections that could've easily been prevented but you didn't want to give up your precious bandages." Hiro replied, Taro glaring at the jinchuuriki. "Two bandages. One that is being used. And one that is being washed." Hiro said, changing the blood stained bandages, replacing them with sterile new ones.

Hiro sat beside Tachi and sighed. "Three more days." He shut his eyes.

"Yeah. Then the real fun begins." Hiro cracked open an eye and looked at Taro, who had his arms behind his head as a pillow, the famous Uchiha smirk gracing his lips.

-x-x-x- Uchiha -x-x-x-

"Sasuke? It's three in the morning. What are you doing up?" Sakura sat straight up in bed, as best she could.

"It's nothing. Go back to sleep Sakura." The Uchiha replied.

"Okay, after twenty seven years you seriously think I'm going to believe that?" the rosette replied.

Sasuke sighed. "No.' Sasuke hopped down from the window sill. "I just… I have this bad feeling that I can't dismiss. Something bad is going to happen, I just know it." He said as he climbed into bed, beside Sakura.

"Sasuke-kun, I think you're over reacting a bit." Sakura replied rubbing her side. Sasuke put his hand over hers, kissing her softly, rubbing her side.

"Do you think Taro's killed Hiro yet?" Sasuke asked.

"I think Tachi's probably killed Renji." Sakura replied.

Sasuke nodded. "I wouldn't doubt it. I also wouldn't doubt that Hiro will probably be trying to contact Tachi."

"Why?" Sasuke rolled over on his back and glared at the ceiling. "Sasuke-kun?"

"Tachi took it from the secret compartment in the bed side table." Sasuke said, continuing to brood in his emoness.

Sakura burst out laughing. "Sas-Sasuke! YOU'RE GETTING OLD!"

"Sakura, I'm not getting old. I'm just as old as I was twenty years ago."

"Sasuke-kun, you're old. You're thirty-five. You're losing it." Sakura said, running her hands through his hair. Suddenly she stopped. Struggling to contain her self, she said, "Sasuke-kun, you… you… have a grey hair." It came out in a whisper. Tugging it slightly and showing it to him.

Roughly, Sasuke kissed Sakura's lips, leaving them bruised. "Sakura, shut up."

-x-x-x- Tachi, Hiro, Misa, Taro -x-x-x-

A scream was heard. Hiro and Taro woke immediately.

"What did you do to her, you filthy piece of trash?" Taro yelled as they made their way over to the girl.

"I didn't do anything to her! I was sleeping just as you were!" Hiro yelled.

"Right, like I'm supposed to believe that!" The screaming got louder, turning the boy's attention to Tachi. The curse seal was glowing a bright orange.

"That wasn't there before." Hiro said, confused.

"It usually doesn't show up. Just when she's scared." Taro said. "You'd know that if you actually knew her."

"Like you care about her at all! At least I love her! And maybe I'd get to know her if somebody and their parents would let her get to that point!" Hiro replied, turning his attention away from Tachi back to Taro. No one noticed the screaming had stopped.

"As it turns out, I do care about my sister! And maybe we would trust you if you didn't come from a long line of crazies and oh, there is the tiny fact that you were a hair away from killing her!" Taro replied.

"Stop it!"

The boys ignored the voice. "Don't you dare bring my family into this, because Kami knows I could say worse about yours, Uchiha!" Hiro spat.

"Stop it, please!"

Again the voice was ignored. "And you know I never meant to hurt her!"

"Oh right… I'm sure you never meant to do anything to my sister!"

"No, I didn't!

"STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!" Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around Hiro's waist, causing both nin to stop yelling at each other.

"Tachi, what are you doing? Do you want to get hurt again?" Taro said, yanking Tachi away from Hiro.

"I'm stopping a fight that should've never started! You're both immature and you can't stop fighting for one minute! You're on the same team, which means you're supposed to be working together! I was under the impression that both of you were dead and it was my fault! And both of you were too busy fighting with each other to even see if I was okay! Kami, I hate both of you so much right now!" Tachi sobbed.

"Tachi, I-" Hiro reached for Tachi's hand, only for her to pull away.

"No! I don't want to here your stupid excuses, Hiro!" Tachi replied. Hiro flinched as if he had been slapped. Taro snickered.

"You shut up too! You're just as much a dirt bag as he is, Taro!"

"Come on, Tachi. Don't be s-"

"I don't want to here it from you either Taro!" With that, Tachi walked off into the woods, too upset to deal with them any longer.

Hiro slumped down against a tree behind him, his head bowed and his hair in his face. This was going to be a long two days.

**/AN: Okay so, I'm sure when I'll update again. But I hope it'll be soon! Thank you to all who gave me feed back! PLEASE CONTINUE TO REVIEW!/**


	10. Arriving

**/AN: I updated late! I know! I'm sorry! I own nothing!**

**Chapter Nine: Arriving**

Chapter Nine: Arriving: Surprise!

-x-x-x- Chihiro, Kana, Hikari -x-x-x-

"You know, it's been four days. Do you think we should head towards the tower now?" Hikari asked.

"The leader person said we had five days. Tomorrow's the fifth day. Let's just sleep." Kana said, with a yawn and a stretch.

"And have our scrolls get stolen? Lovely idea, Kana." Chihiro said.

"Sorry, I need my beauty sleep." Kana replied, earn a bonk on the head from Hikari.

-x-x-x- Lightning -x-x-x-

"It's the fourth day and we still don't have the other scroll." Ayaka complained, tossing, her blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Stop whining. You've giving me a head ache." Shijiro growled rubbing his temples.

"Arguing isn't helping the situation either." Kaname replied.

Suddenly, a scream was heard, followed by, "Shiro! That wasn't funny! EW RYO GET IT OUT OF MY FACE!"

"Looks like we found our scroll." The lightning trio made their way through the brush and foliage.

In a clearing, sat a red head boy and two brunettes. The red head was holding a small snake in front of the girl who was squealing.

"Come on, Hitomi! Kiss the snake! You know you want to!"

"RYO STOP FOOLING AROUND!" The brunette said.

"Aw, you're no fun, Shiro!" Ryo said, apparently not realizing the danger in front him.

"We have company, baka!"

"Kuso…"

The fight was over quickly. The lightning team claimed their prize, and left.

-x-x-x- Tachi, Hiro, Taro, Misa -x-x-x-

Misa had finally woken up. Tachi was still of on her own and Hiro was still in a gloom.

"Look man, Tachi's gonna get into trouble on her own, and she probably won't listen to me. You'd had a better chance getting her back than I would." Taro said.

"Thought you said Tachi should be with her own team." Hiro replied.

"Chances are Renji and Kenji are dead. Therefore Tachi should stick with us. If not, she'll get killed." Taro told him.

"Fine." with that, Hiro stood and went off in the direction Tachi had fled.

_'Tachi, where are you?' _Hiro asked, using the pendant around his neck.

_'Why? Just leave me alone.' _Tachi replied.

_'Nope. I'll keep looking for you forever if I have to you know that.' _Hiro told her. _'I'm sorry I was fighting with Taro… again. That was wrong of me.'_

_'That's helps a little.' _Tachi replied. Hiro stopped behind a tree.

"Good." Hiro said a loud. In front of him, he heard a small gasp. "Found you." He said, kneeling in front of Tachi.

Unexpectedly, Tachi jumped into Hiro's arms, knocking him off balance.

"I love you." Tachi mumbled into Hiro's shoulder.

"I know." was the only thing that came to his mind.

-x-

Tachi and Hiro returned to the camp site, hand in hand.

"Woe! I said go get her, not date her!" Taro said, jumping up from his spot by a tree.

"Taro, go screw yourself." Tachi said. Taro's eyes widening. "I love Hiro and you're my brother so you're just going to have to deal with it."

"I can't believe you. After everything that monster has done to you, you're still going to date him?" Taro yelled.

"Yes!"

"You make me sick, Tachi." Taro replied.

"So do you Taro. So do you."

"Um…. Guys?" Misa said quietly, as the arguing continued. "Tachi, Taro? Guys?" No answer came. Being brave, Misa yelled: "GUYS!"

"What?" The two yelled, turning towards Misa, who had her byakugan activated.

"There are three ninjas coming this way. They're about on hundred meters away. We need to be ready instead of fighting." She said.

"Right." The three finally agreed on something and his amongst the trees, as Misa placed a paper bomb in the clearing.

"50 meters… 30... 10..." an explosion was heard.

"Did they really go out that easily?" Taro asked.

"No. They're no leaf, but they're not stupid either." Tachi replied. Taro jumped down and attacked one of the ninjas.

"Kuso! Is your brother insane?" Hiro asked, following the elder Uchiha, Tachi and Misa following suit.

"Hey, you're kinda cute!" A girl said, inching up to Hiro.

"Back off you evil little nasty. Hiro's mine." Tachi growled, jumping in between the two.

"Really? Come on, Hiro-kun. You can do better than this fluff." Hiro backed away from the girl.

"Did you just call me fat? I'll have you know, I weigh 90 pounds. I AM NOT FAT!" Tachi tackled the girl to the ground, punching her face left and right, until the girl passed out. When that happened, Tachi rose, and turned to Hiro kissing him full on the lips, Hiro returning the kiss. "You're mine. Don't forget it." She said, kissing him again.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Hiro replied, kissing Tachi again.

"Good."

"Um… a little help over here?" Taro's voice was heard over the ruckus.

"Oops." Tachi and Hiro replied together, rushing over to help Taro and Misa with their own fight.

"Crap! Ayaka's knocked out! How did that happen so fast?" Hiro smirked at Shijiro, landing a final blow to the head.

"Taro! Quit messing with the guy's head and start searching for the scroll." Hiro yelled.

"I think you mean, 'scrolls'" Tachi said emphasizing the 's'. In the distance, Taro switched off his sharingan, leaving his victim to "dream" in peace.d

Hiro looked to Tachi in confusion, Tachi holding up two scrolls.

Hiro let out a victory cry, jumping into the air. Tachi tossed the scroll to Hiro, putting her own in her pocket with the other.

"Now we can start heading to the tower!" Taro yelled hugging Misa who blushed deeply.

x-x-x- Rain -x-x-x-

"Father will be pleased to hear how the Chuunin exams are coming along. However, master will be furious that I have yet to find Uchiha Tachi." An unemotional voice said.

"Rai, why do you gotta be so-"

"Rai?" another voice said sarcastically.

"I won't put up with father and master much longer. After our assignment is completed, that is when we'll leave." Rai replied.

"Aiko, are you following where he's going with this?" A girl asked.

"Not a clue Mizuki, not a clue."

-x-x-x- Chihiro, Kana, Hikari -x-x-x-

"WE MADE IT! KANA LOOK THERE'S THE TOWER!' Hikari screamed, hugging Kana, nearly squeezing the life out of the girl.

"Hi…kari…chan! Can't… br…eathe!" Kana tried to splurt out.

Chihiro smiled, as they walked into the building.

-x-x-x- Tachi, Taro, Hiro, Misa -x-x-x-

Tachi walked through the door of the tower, extremely upset that Renji and Kenji weren't there. She leaned into Hiro's shoulder near the point of tears.

"It'll be okay, Tachi." He said, rubbing circles in her back.

"TACHI!" a loud obnoxious voice rang out through the room causing Tachi to raise her head in surprise in the direction of the noise.

There before her, she saw Renji and Kenji running up to her.

**/AN: okay so: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, whatever you celebrate enjoy it! REVIEW PLEASE!**


	11. UzumakiHyuuga Face Off: Renji vs Misa

**/AN: I own dogs.** **Chapter Ten: Uzumaki-Hyuuga Twins Face Off: Renji vs. Misa**

"Renji! Kenji! I thought you were dead!" Tachi, sobbed, bugging the both of them for dear life.

"Us? W thought you were dead!" Kenji said, surprised.

"What happened?" Tachi asked.

"Well the earthquake shook a bunch of trees down on top of us and knocked us out." Renji replied.

"And when we woke up and managed to shove the trees off of us, you were gone. We even tried using Byakugan to find you. We figured you found Hiro so we went to the tower." Kenji added.

"Well actually, Hiro found me." Tachi replied. Unable to contain herself, Tachi hugged both of her teammates again. "I swear to Kami, if you ever scare me like that again, you're both gonna regret it." She said, receiving hugs from both of them.

"Where's Misa?" Renji asked, looking to team ten, only to see med nin surrounding his twin sister. "What the frog happened?" He asked, rushing over to the girl.

Taro kneeled beside her. "During the earthquake, a tree fell on her leg. I bandaged it up and made sure that no infection spread." Renji looked up from his sister.

"Renji, you truly are a fool if you think Taro went out and searched for the ingredients." Hiro said. I looked for the four ingredients to prevent infection. While doing so, I found Tachi by a tree, crying her eyes out. I sent the ingredients to Taro, in hopes he knew what to do." He said, glaring at Taro.

"Do you have to take credit for everything?" Taro yelled, standing.

"The credit should go to me! I did all of the work!" Hiro replied, Taro two inches from his face.

"Oh really? So I guess all I did was sit around when we were ambushed by that lightning team?" Taro said, shoving him a bit.

"Tachi and Misa did a heck of a lot more than you did. Tachi took out Amaya single handedly. Misa warned us that they were coming, and hid a paper bomb. And what did you do? You gave away our position! You went into battle without back up! You could've bee killed! Tachi would've been crushed." Hiro replied, shoving Taro back. "You're a liability to this team."

"I'm no more a liability than you are!" Taro said, shoving Hiro harder.

"Boys! Save it for the exams." an officer said.

"Sure thing." Taro growled, Taro and Hiro turning away from each other.

Suddenly, another official with a senbon in his mouth stepped forward. "The exams start tomorrow. For now, you will share a room with your team and report to this room nine am." The official gave them their room number and they left.

-x- midnight -x-

_'Tachi, you awake?' _Tachi heard Hiro's voice in her head.

_'Yeah.'_

_ 'Meet me out in the hallway in five minutes.'_

_ 'Alright.' _Tachi replied.

Throwing a shirt on over her tank, she looked over to Renji and Kenji. Renji was snoring loudly next to Kenji. Slowly she opened the door and shut it quietly. Suddenly she bumped into something hard. Before she could scream, a hand covered her mouth. She looked up into Hiro's warm eyes. He put a single finger over his lips to signal silence. Slowly Tachi nodded and Hiro removed his hand.

_'Follow me." _He said, through the necklaces. Hiro took Tachi's hand and together, they ran through the halls until the couple was on the roof top under the sparkling stars.

"Hiro, its beautiful!" The roof of the tower stood far above the tree tops, so the sky was visible.

"I thought you might like it." the jinchuuriki said, keeping his voice low for fear that taro may have followed him.

Tachi kissed Hiro's lips, Hiro responding immediately, laying butterfly kisses down her jaw line and neck, finally stopping on her collar bone. He sucked gently on that spot for a while, Tachi running her hand through his hair.

Hiro pulled away, not bothering to look at the mark that he had left.

He moved back to her lips kissing her roughly, leaving them swollen and bruised.

"You're mine. And now your brother will remember that." Hiro said, Tachi leaning into his chest frowning.

"I wish he'd mind his own business." Tachi mumbled.

"You and I both."

Hiro and Tachi sat on the roof for a while longer before going in.

-x- Hiro -x-

Hiro returned to his room after seeing Tachi to bed.

Just as he was about to walk to the couch he saw sharingan eyes flash beside him.

"Where've you been?" Taro asked.

"I went out for fresh air. I couldn't sleep. Why?" Hiro said, laying down on the couch.

"How do I know you weren't out with my sister?" Taro hounded.

"Because your sister's asleep. Go check if you want."

"I don't believe you." Taro ran out of the room and down the hall to Tachi's room busting the door open. "TACHI!"

"CHEESE CAKE MUFFINS!" Renji bolted up straight in bed.

"Taro! I swear to Kami if you ever wake me u this early again, you'll wish you were never born!"

"Kuso."

The next morning, Tachi and Taro were the first to the arena. "Tachi?" Taro asked, softly.

"What?" Tachi spat not bothering to look at her brother.

"I'm sorry for hounding on you about Hiro. It's just… I hate him. I really do. I mean he almost killed my baby sister. How would you feel if he almost killed me? Even if it was on accident." Taro replied.

"I'd find a way to forgive him." Tachi said turning around.

"You w-" Taro's eyes weren't looking into Tachi's anymore, but rather on the fresh mark on her neck. "What the heck is that?"

Tachi's eyes widened, her hand going to her collar bone. "It's nothing. I-I fell, and hit the door knob on my way out this morning. I-It's just a bruise," was her excuse.

"Bull crap, Tachi! I'm not stupid! Did you sleep with him?"

"No! We made out! I swear to Kami, I didn't do anything!"

"Screw this. I'm done with you." Taro turned away and left just as Hiro and Misa showed up.

"What's with Him?" Hiro asked. Tachi shrugged not caring what her brother did.

-x-x-x- Uzumaki-Hyuuga -x-x-x-

"Hinata! Where's the instant ramen?" Naruto called, from the kitchen.

"It's in the refrigerator!" Hinata replied.

"Why is it there?" The sixth hokage moved from the sink to the fridge, pulling out four cups of instant ramen.

"Your sons put them there."

"Thank you!" He put the ramen in the microwave, and moved toward the living room, looking for Hinata.

"Hinata-chan! Where are you?" He called, heading towards the stairs. When no answer came, he called again. "HINATA!"

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a beep and ran downstairs to the kitchen. At the table, he saw Ichigo and Ichijo eating two of the ramen cups, noodles and juice covering their face.

Finally, Ichigo finished first. "Yay! I win!" Ichigo frowned but continued eating. "Ichi-ni? Are you gonna finish dat?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes."

"No you're not."

"I'm not?" Ichigo asked, confused.

"Nope!" Ichigo reached across the table and swiped the ramen cup away from his brother. "Because I am!" The two year old finished the cup in a matter of seconds.

"B-but… that was mine!" Ichijo began to cry, causing Naruto to step in.

"It's okay, Ichijo. We'll get you another." he comforted. The he looked to Ichigo. "Why did you take your brother's ramen? You could've just asked for another."

"Yessir." Ichigo mumbled.

Together, they got six more cups of ramen and were put to bed.

Naruto sighed and sat on the couch. "You've grown up, Naruto." Hinata said sitting beside him.

"I don't have as much time to fool around as I used to." Came his reply.

"But you have just as much energy." Hinata replied.

He smiled. That he did. It's probably why he can't sit still while doing paper work.

-x-

My name is Heyate Gekko. Today we start the third part of the Chuunin exams. The rules are simple. Two people will be randomly chosen by the board behind me. No exceptions or changes will be made.

The two people chosen, will battle until either opponent can't stand any longer." Heyate concluded. "The first match is…" The screen scramble names until it finally stopped. "Uzumaki-Hyuuga Misa and Uzumaki-Hyuuga Renji."

The twins looked at each other in horror for a long time. "WHAT? THIS IS INSANE! I CAN'T FIGHT MY OWN SISTER! THAT'S MY OWN FLESH AND BLOOD! YOU CAN'T JUST-" Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Renji turned to see Kakashi's sorrowful eyes.

"The rules are absolute. When you are ready, you may begin. Interference from and sensei will be an automatic disqualification."

Renji and Misa slowly made their way down to the stadium's battle field.

"I won't go easy on you." Renji said.

"I know." Misa replied.

Heyate raised his hand and brought it down, muttering, "Begin."

Renji and Misa got into a stance. Making some hand signs, Renji shouted, "Shadow clone jutsu!" Two other blonde Renji's popped up behind him.

"Byakugan!"

Misa ran at Renji preparing sixty four palms. Finally, she reached Renji, and connected with multiple chakra points. "Two palms… four palms… eight palms… sixteen palms… thirty two palms… sixty four palms.."

The clones dispersed and Renji was panting. Many of his chakra points were shut down.

Suddenly, Renji's fist connected with Misa's jaw, throwing her back a ways.

Luckily, he still had a few chakra points still left open. He gathered chakra into his hand. Kakashi's eyes widened, knowing what jutsu the boy was doing.

"RASENGAN!"

And just like that, the match was over, Misa knocked out cold.

"Winner: Uzumaki-Hyuuga Renji." He had won, but he wasn't happy about it. Then he heard someone yell, "…medical attention, quick!" and then, "…gonna die…" but all he saw was the ceiling.

"Misa… I'm sorry."

**/AN: review please!**


	12. The Rivaled Battle: Hiro vs Taro

**/AN: okay, so the last chapter was excruciatingly short. I'm REALLY sorry for that. but hopefully this one is longer: Chapter Eleven: The Rivaled Battle: Hiro vs. Taro.**

The next match was between Mizuki and Aiko. Mizuki won quickly.

Everybody's heart raced as they watched the screen scramble names. Finally it stopped.

"Uchiha Taro and Subaku Hiro."

"Good. You ready, Subaku?" Taro asked.

"More than you will ever know. Scared?" Hiro replied.

"You wish."

The boys walked down to the arena. "I have a proposition for you."

"What would that be?" Hiro asked.

"If I win, you stay away from Tachi for good. No talking, no training no contact whatsoever with her at all." Hiro's eyes widened slightly. "If you win, you date her marry her, do whatever you want to with her and I won't interfere at all. I'll mind my own business. What do you say?" Taro asked.

"Deal."

"Good."

"Begin."

"Sharingan!" Taro's eyes swirled bloody red and black.

The both stood for a few seconds. "Are you gonna move or just stand there all day?"

"I've already made my move. Your turn Taro." Hiro replied.

"Suit yourself." Taro readied himself for his attack. "Lion's Barrage!" He ran at Hiro, who jumped fifty feet in the air, Taro nearly running into the wall.

"You'll have to try harder than that." Hiro mocked. "I've trained too long and too hard to be beat by a fool like you." He pulled out a demon wind blade. If he threw it right, it would circle around Taro like he wanted it to.

Finally seeing that Taro was running at him, he threw it, the blade wrapping around Taro twice, landing in front of Hiro. "Is that it? Was that your little trick?" Taro asked.

"Try moving your arms loud mouth." Hiro replied with a smirk. Hiro enjoyed himself as he watched Taro struggle. "Right now, all of your chakra points are being drained… and if I let you stay here long enough-," Hiro pulled at the strings, pulling them tighter around the Uchiha, "You'll die." In one swift movement, Hiro pulled Taro to him and punched his gut, throwing him back ten feet.

Taro shut off his Sharingan. He had used it too much anyway.

"Getting weak?" Hiro asked a murderous glint in his eye. His inner demon was starting to show and he knew it. If Taro got him too upset the demon would come out completely.

"Do you really intend to kill me?" Taro asked, angrily.

"No. Just mess with your head a little. Now that you can't use your sharingan… fight me fairly."

"That's the only reason you did this? To cut off my blood line to make it an even match? I can't believe this!"

"Suit yourself." Hiro ran at Taro tackling him to the ground, punching his face.

Taro kicked Hiro off of him rising to his feet, wiping the blood off his lip.

"You're insane! You're entire family! You're really trying to kill me! This battle is to see who's stronger! Not to kill each other!"

"Leave my family out of this!" Hiro clenched his fists.

"Screw this! The bets off!" Taro said.

"SAND COFFIN!" Sand creeped up around Taro, causing him to choke.

The circles around Hiro's eyes darkened, and his voice got deeper, more demonic.

"Hiro!" a voice broke through the demonic barrier.

"Ta…chi?" Hiro tried to say, getting past the demon. A dark red aura was beginning to form around him

"Come on! You can do it! I know you can regain control!" Tachi yelled from the side lines.

_'Tachi…' _he had to regain control again. He tried speaking again but failed.

"If he doesn't stop soon, Taro's gonna die!" he heard someone yell.

Finally, Hiro regained control and let Taro go.

Slowly he inched closer to the Uchiha who was on his knees. "Chidori!" Taro slammed his lightning filled fist into Hiro's stomach throwing him back so far that he hit the wall on the opposite side of the stadium.

"HIRO!"

An unconscious Hiro was rolled to the side on a gurney, the medic nin mutter something about cardiac arrest.

"The winner: Uchiha Taro."

Tachi rushed down out of the stands over to the other side where Hiro was being treated, but on of the medics stopped her before she could get too far.

"Only family is allowed to see him." the medic said.

Thinking quickly, Tachi said, "I'm his sister."

The medic nodded and let her through. Tachi suspected that he was either a newbie or just plain stupid. Everybody knew Tachi and everybody knew she was a leaf village ninja.

Finally, she stopped by a medic. "Is he okay?" Tachi asked franticly. The medic pulled Tachi aside, leaving another medic in his place.

"The electric volts stopped his heart. We were able to get it going again but he's still dancing with death. We'll do all we can to get him stable again." the medic replied.

Tachi nodded as Hiro was rolled away. Taro was being given a breathing treatment to reopen the airways Hiro crushed. The Uchiha returned to her spot.

**/AN: review please!**


	13. Chihiro vs Tachi

**/AN: sorry these chapters are so short guys. I promise they won't be this long forever! Chapter Twelve: Chihiro vs. Tachi**

Once the field was cleared, the board began to shuffle the names again.

"Subaku Chihiro and Uchiha Tachi." The two nin walked down the stairs and on to the battlefield.

"When you're ready."

Tachi got into her stance and looked at Chihiro. "I have a question for you."

"I won't go easy on you because my brother is in love with you." Chihiro replied, taking a stance as well.

"I wasn't going to ask you that." Chihiro's face remained blank. "Why don't you care about your brother?" The sand nin's eye's widened.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I didn't think you really hated your brother at first, but what just happened confirmed it. You hate Hiro."

"You're right." Chihiro closed her eyes. "I do hate Hiro. With a burning passion. But you wouldn't understand. Nobody would ever understand."

"Try me. I've been through a lot." Tachi replied.

"Hiro killed out mother. We were three at the time. Hiro lost control of the demon while she was holding him. Father and I were out doing something. I don't remember what now. Father went over to talk to a neighbor and I went inside to help mother with dinner. I found her dead on the floor in a puddle of her own blood in the kitchen, Hiro crying covered in her blood.

It was so hard to forgive him after that. Father managed… but neither have you have any idea what it's like to grow up with out a mother." Chihiro growled.

"No… I don't… but my father does."

"I know all about the Uchiha massacre. That's a completely different situation."

"When I found out about why I can't remember anything before my sixth birthday, I was able to forgive Hiro. So why can't you?:

"I'm not going to argue about this with you."

"Then let's fight." Tachi's Sharingan flared. "Make your move."

"Chihiro pulled out a large fan. Tachi laughed. "You're going to blow me away? Really? Are you serious?"

"Don't underestimate me, Uchiha!"

"Whatever you say." Chihiro ran at Tachi, swinging her fan back, ready to attack. Tachi dodged and did a number of hand signs. "Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Many fire balls shot from Tachi's mouth. Chihiro, not having time to dodge, used the fan as a shield.

Tachi landed on all fours behind Chihiro. Quickly, she rose and kicked Chihiro's back causing her to fall face first. Unexpectedly, Chihiro jumped up and knocked Tachi in the head with one of the metal ends of her fan, causing Tachi to stagger a bit and clutch her head.

Chihiro surveyed the damage done to her fan. It had charred holes in it from the previous jutsu. "You ruined my fan!"

"You're the one who used it as a shield."

Chihiro shrugged. "No matter. I'll just build a new one when we get back to Suna." She looked over to Tachi, who was standing up, looking at her blood covered hand. "Recovered?"

"Other than a massive headache and a possible concussion, yeah, I'm fine. Are you?" Tachi asked.

"What are you-?" Chihiro was cut off as Tachi lunged for the girl. Before she could get more than a few punches in, Chihiro pushed Tachi off of her.

"Wind Needle Barrage!" Chihiro sucked a deep breath in, and spit out poisoned needles. Using her Sharingan, Tachi easily dodged them all.

"It's time to end this!" Before Chihiro could say anything, Tachi gathered chakra, and an explosion of chirping birds filled the room. The remaining crowd gasped in awe and horror as chidori immersed out of every inch of Tachi's body. "CHIDORI!" Tachi ran at Chihiro connecting her fist to her jaw. Chihiro passed out and Tachi panted, the jutsu ending.

"Winner: Uchiha Tachi." Tachi fell back only to be caught by Kakashi.

"Easy." he told her.

"Kakashi?" Tachi's vision was blurred. "I think I overused my Sharingan." She murmured weekly. Kakashi sighed and carried her back up to the upper platform.

**/AN: review please!**


	14. Rain vs Kenji

**/AN: okay, so this is like, the third chapter in two days. You guys are lucky! Chapter Thirteen: Rain vs. Hyuuga Kenji **

The screen started scrambling again. Everyone's heart raced as they watched the names speed by. Finally, they stopped.

"Rai. Hyuuga Kenji. Please step forward.

"AW RIGHT KENJI!" A yell was heard from the platform.

"YEAH! WE BELIEVE IN YOU!"

Kenji looked back to see Kana and Hikari cheering for him.

"When you're ready, you can begin."

"You are Uchiha Tachi's teammate, correct?" The ninja replied.

"Um… yeah?" Kenji eyed the rain nin.

"Good. Maybe this battle will earn me some insight on her." Rai replied.

"If you're looking to date her, she'd kind of taken." Kenji said.

"I would not want to date Uchiha offspring."

"What do you want with Tachi then?" Glancing up to the platform where Tachi lay.

"That is for me to know and you to never find out."

"Then let's get started. I'll make you a deal: I kick your hind end and you leave Tachi out of whatever twisted plan you're plotting. You kick my butt, plot your plan knowing we'll find out whatever it is anyway." Kenji said.

"As you wish."

"Byakugan!" Kanji saw the attack coming, and jumping into the air, and landed a drop kick. All over his foot was wet ink. "What the?" Kenji looked over to Rai who had a fake smile. _'Where have I seen that smile before? It's so familiar…' _

Rai quickly scribble with a paint brush.

Hastily, Kenji made hand signs. "Kai… RELEASE!"

"You fool. This is no genjutsu."

_'My genjutsu skills are a little off.'_ Kenji thought. _'So if it's not genjutsu… how do I defeat him?"_ Then suddenly, an idea popped up into Kenji's mind.

Kenji used a transportation jutsu and ended up behind Rai, elbowing his back. "Sixty Four Palms!" Kenji made the hand signs for his family's signature jutsu. "Two palms… four palms… eight palms… sixteen palms… thirty two palms… sixty four palms." Rai fell back, gasping for air.

"Get the kid a medic. He needs his chakra ways reopened."

"Winner: Hyuuga Kenji." Heyate spoke quickly, as Kenji stalked off back to the upper platform.

"You did great Kenji!" Kana said, glomping him. Kenji smiled at the girl's antics.

"Hey Kana! We're next. Do you think Tachi's up yet?" Hikari asked next to her.

"I don't know. I'll go check." Kana left Kenji to his thoughts and ran down the platform to where Kakashi was kneeling beside the Uchiha heiress.

"Hey Tachi, you awake yet?" Kana asked, maneuvering around the masked nin. Tachi glanced meekly at her blond ditzy friend.

"She's away, Kana. I don't exactly think she's fully conscious yet. That jutsu she used took a lot out of her. She should be fine in a few minutes though. If not I'll have to have Sakura take a look at her." Kakashi replied.

"Okays." Kana ran back over to Hikari.

"So…? What's going on?" Hikari asked.

"She's still a little messed up from the jutsu she did." Kana answered.

"Will the last two ninja please step forward?"

"That's us." Hikari and Kana hooked arms and walked down to the field. "Alright, remember the plan Hikari."

Hikari nodded. "Right."

**/AN: review please!**


	15. Naara vs Hyuuga

**/AN: I must like updating this week. I own nothing. Chapter Fourteen: Naara vs. Hyuuga**

"When you're ready, you may begin."

"Prepare to be defeated, Hyuuga Hikari!" Kana yelled.

"You're going down Naara Kana!" Hikari replied back.

"What are they doing? They never fight like this…" A voice behind Kakashi who was over at the rail on the end of the platform. Kakashi glanced over his shoulder.

"Glad to see you're finally with us. Are you feeling okay?" The masked nin asked, turning his attention away from the fight.

"I'm really dizzy. And I ache all over. My hair is fried to a crisp. All in all. What do you think?" Tachi replied, glaring at her sensei.

Kakashi stared at his student for a long while. "Tachi," he started slowly, "Did you copy that jutsu from your father?"

"Kakashi-sensei, we've been through this you know I copied chidori from Sasuke."

Kakashi sighed. Was she ever going to forgive him? "Tachi, the jutsu you performed was Chidori Nagashi. it's a different form of chidori your father created when he was your age. Instead of just a ball of chidori in your hand, the chidori scatters throughout your body. It should've killed you."

Tachi's eyes widened. "That would explain why all of my chakra is gone. I must've emitted more of it than I meant to."

"Tachi turned her attention back to the fight, where Kana and Hikari were still arguing back and forth. "Tachi you're not listening to me are you?" Kakashi lectured.

Tachi looked to her sensei in annoyance. "So I performed an advanced jutsu? My parents are Uchiha Sasuke and Sakura. What do you expect? Renji?"

"Read between the lines Tachi: you're learning things without being taught, you're jutsu is accelerating at a pace Sasuke's never did, you've unlocked your personal Sharingan without being under intense pressure, you had your mother's massive strength by the age of three and you achieved fire ball jutsu two years before your older brother did. Plus, you could've graduated from the academy at the age of seven. Tachi, you're the next Uchiha Prodigy. Las generation it was Itachi. The one before that: Satoshi. Then Uruchi and finally Madara. Tachi, all of these people did great things, and were extremely powerful." Kakashi explained mostly to himself.

Tachi's face remained black. "Why would I want to be like Itachi? Look what he did! He ruined Sasuke's life, thus ruining mine."

Kakashi sighed. "Would it help if I said you were better than Taro?"

"Yes." Tachi looked back to her friends who were still arguing. Tachi sighed. "Kana! Hikari! You both realize this isn't supposed to be an arguing fight… right?" Tachi yelled down to them.

"It's not?" The both called back simultaneously.

"NO! START FIGHTING!"

"KAY!"

"What do we do? We're not prepared for this!" Kana squealed.

"Think of it as a spar! But Naruto-sensei never lets Misa spar unless he's with her!" Kana panicked.

"Kana, listen to me, Misa already fought in the first round, remember?"

"Oh… um okay." With that, Hikari proceeded to perform sixty four palm. However she only got to thirty two palms before Kana dodged and kicked Hikari out from under her feet.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu!" Kana yelled.

"Kana, what do you plan to do with that? I'm confused." Hikari asked.

"This." Kana strode forward, causing Hikari to do the mirror image. Kana punched and hit Hikari, Hikari doing the same to Kana, until they were both battered and bruised. Finally Kana strode back to the wall, fell back and hit her head against the wall. As they fell to the ground, Hikari looked to Kana. _'This way… we both win.'_

"No winner. This concluded the preliminary exams."

Suddenly, she felt more presences come into the room. She looked to the right and saw Taro and Hiro across the room.

"Hiro!" Tachi waved to Hiro. He flinched but otherwise didn't remove his eyes from the battlefield. Tachi frowned, confused and looked to Taro who smirked and shrugged.

"You will meet three days from now at the arena, at three pm. Good luck."

Everybody rushed to get out of the building. "Hiro!" Tachi called loud enough for him to hear her. Hiro walked on out the door.

Tachi arrived home and immediately laid into Taro. "What did you say to Hiro?" Nobody was home. Sasuke was teaching at the academy. Sakura was most likely shopping, leaving Suichiro with her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Taro replied, going to the couch to lay down.

"Hiro didn't just stop talking to me on his own. And you're the only person who wants us apart. Don't play games with me, Taro. I'm not stupid."

"All we did was make a bet. He lost. Now, he's paying up."

"So now he can't talk to me? Stupid plan Taro. Just because-"

"Not just talking, no contact with you whatsoever."

"Does it really matter?"

"Guess not?"

Tachi sighed and went to her room, locking her door behind her.

**/AN: review please!**


	16. Runaway

**/AN: I own nothing. Chapter Fifteen: Runaway**

Tachi didn't come out of her room for a while. She had tried to reach Hiro through the pendant around her neck but no answer ever came. She would leave tonight when everyone was asleep. Her bags were packed with multiple items she would need.

"Tachi! Come down for dinner!" Tachi sighed but her stomach rumbled, and reluctantly, she arrived at dinner.

"How was the chuunin exams?" Sakura asked as everyone sat down at the table.

"Excellent."

"Alright."

The answers came simultaneously. Taro went into full detail about his experiences as Tachi shoved rice around on her plate.

"Can I be excused?" Tachi asked. "I'd like to take a shower before I go to bed."

"Put your plate on the counter." Sasuke said.

Tachi nodded and did as she was told. She retreated to her room and gathered clothes. When she reached the bathroom, she locked the door and turned the water on hot.

As Tachi stripped of her muddy, water logged, stinky clothes. She looked in the mirror and noticed she looked much darker than she usually did. She had leaves tangled in her hair and her lips were still slightly bruised from where she had made out with Hiro.

Tears cascaded down her cheeks as she remembered what he had told her that night.

_"'You're mine. Never forget that.'"_ With that thought, she sat in the shower, letting the scalding water turn her skin red, the dirt from her body mixing with water until the water ran cold. Finally when she couldn't stand any longer, she hopped out of the shower turning the water off as she went.

Slowly, Tachi got dressed, moving in slow motion. Finally, she pulled on a hoodie, and grabber her bad, which had been repacked, and jumped out her window, heading for Misa's house.

-x-x-x- Hiro -x-x-x-

When Hiro arrived home, he ran straight to his room, slamming the door. Gaara looked at Chihiro. "What's wrong with your brother?"

"All he said was that he lost a bet. Didn't say what it was about." Chihiro replied.

And then, they heard a loud crash from upstairs. Together, Chihiro and Gaara went to see what the commotion was about, only to be shoved by Hiro who stormed down stairs into the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Gaara asked his son.

"Out." came the one word answer as he stomped out the door.

Hiro knew where he was going, but his legs wouldn't carry him there fast enough. He picked up his pace, breaking into a run. The cool air felt good on his face.

Finally he reached his destination and climbed the stairs to the top. Finally reaching the door at the dead end, Hiro hit the door hard, multiple times, until at last the door opened.

"Hiro? What are you- are you okay?"

"I can't take it anymore, Naruto! It's driving me insane!" Hiro paced around Naruto's office.

"What's going on Hiro? I'm confused."

"Tachi! I haven't spoken to her in six hours! That stupid brother of hers! Kami I hate him! Why did I have to make that stupid bet? I'm such a freaking idiot!"

Naruto looked more confused than ever. "Hiro, slow down! Why are you angry with Taro? What bet did you lose? And more importantly, what does this have to do with Tachi? Just sit down and start from the beginning."

Hiro took a deep, shaky, sigh and flopped on one of the chairs.

"It started during the chuunin exams." Hiro retold what happened during the exams in the forest. "So we made this bet and I guess I was feeling a little cocky, thinking I could beat him and win the match and the bet. But instead I lost Tachi and I'm pretty sure she's mad at me. I mean she was already shocked to learn about her sixth birthday and now she thinks I'm ignoring her."

Naruto grabbed a thick text book from a shelf on the wall, and chucked it at Hiro's head. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE FIVE COUNTRIES WAS THAT FOR?" Hiro asked, rubbing his head.

"Didn't I tell you not to blame yourself for that? It was NEVER your fault Hiro. Even Tachi told you that." Naruto replied.

The two sat in silence for a while. "So what do I do?"

"Well, I think it sounds like you're in _love._ And as such, you should forget whatever bet you made with Taro and go to Tachi. Meet with her in secret if you must. Just don't let her go. I never did agree with Sasuke when he broke off the engagement." Naruto said, sitting at his desk.

"So I should just blow off the bet?"

"Mhm."

"And go see Tachi?"

"Yup."

"Okay… In which case I need to go find Tachi… and some pain relief." Naruto chuckled. "Thanks Naruto."

"Anytime Hiro."

-x-x-x- Tachi -x-x-x-

Tachi sat by Hinata, thoroughly disappointed that Misa was at Kana's house.

"So Tachi-chan. Would you like anything to drink?" Tachi shook her head. "What's up? There's gotta be something wrong."

"Actually, it's Hiro. He stopped Talking to me after his match at the chuunin exams. I don't know what's up. I mean nobody wants us together but us. Maybe he just took everyone else's advice and decided never to talk to me again." Tachi said.

"I remember when I was your age. Everybody knew I was in love with Naruto, but Naruto himself.

My father hated Naruto with a cold undying passion, just for being a jinchuuriki."

Tachi's face remained blank. "Then how'd you get together?"

"Well, when Naruto finally asked me out, we had to meet in secret for the longest time to keep it from my father.

We had been dating for about two years when Naruto wanted to marry me. I wanted to but that's when my father finally caught us.

After explaining, and much contemplation from my father, he let us get married. Of course, according to Naruto, it would've happened anyway."

"So… what you're saying is…?"

"What I'm saying is, Tachi, follow your heart. If you love Hiro, tell him that."

"So just tell him I love him?"

"Exactly."

"I'll do that. Thanks Aunt Hinata!"

"No problem, Tachi." Hinata replied as Tachi bound out the door.

-x-x-x- Hiro -x-x-x-

_'Where could she be at?' _Hiro had been looking all over Konoha for the middle Uchiha child. Hiro sighed. _"Maybe I should just contact her through the necklace.'_ Hiro thought about it for a while and tried it. _'Tachi?'_

_'Hiro?'_

_ 'Meet me at the team seven bridge in five minutes?'_

_ 'Yeah.'_

Hiro walked the ten feet to the team seven bridge, and hopped up onto the railing. He looked up at the full moon over head. The stars were twinkling brightly around it, lighting the river below the bridge gently.

How could he apologize?

"Hiro?" Hiro looked to the end of the bridge. There stood Tachi.

"Tachi," Hiro breathed the word as if he didn't believe it was her. He jumped off the rail, and they ran toward each other and embraced. "Kami, Tachi, I love you. I'm so sorry! Taro, he-" Tachi kissed him full on the lips.

"What about Taro? What did he do?"

Hiro led Tachi over to the training field, he wrapped his arms around Tachi's waist as they laid down in the field. "During the Chuunin exams, Taro and I made a bet. I was feeling cocky and I was absolutely sure I could beat him." Hiro started.

"What was the bet?" Tachi asked wearily.

"He bet me that if he beat me, I'd have to stay away from you completely. No contact."

"And if you beat him?"

"We could do anything we wanted. Without having any crap from Taro or Sasuke. So I took it and lost.

That's why I didn't answer when you called for me. If I could, I'd take it back." Hiro looked into Tachi's eyes.

"I must admit that I'm a little upset that you bet on me. But you're not lying to me about it… so I guess I can forgive you." Tachi said, kissing him.

"I don't feel as bad now."

The couple was silent for a while. Tachi was snuggled into Hiro's chest, the two looking up at the moon and stars over head.

"So where do we go from here?" Tachi asked sleepily.

"Wherever you want to, babe." Hiro replied.

"Well right now, I want to sit here with you. I'm talking about in the future." Tachi replied.

"Well sometime in the near future, I'd hope we get that engagement back on." Hiro said stretching.

Tachi's eyes widened. "Really? Are you serious?" Tachi asked, sitting up on her hands.

"Yeah eventually. What? Did you think we were going to date forever?" Hiro asked, bringing Tachi to rest on his chest.

"Well, no but…"

"I was thinking, once we can persuade Sasuke to let us be together, we'll give it about six months and announce the engagement. Perfect plan." Hiro replied.

"Works for me. Taro's got a butt load of stuff coming back to him."

Hiro kissed down Tachi's neck and stopped on the mark he'd left a day or two before. He nipped on it making it look worse. Tachi stifled a moan.

-x-x-x- Uchiha Household -x-x-x-

"I'm going to go talk to Tachi." Sasuke said, rising from the couch.

"Sasuke-kun, maybe you should give her some time to cool down." Sakura replied, stretching out.

"Sakura, she's had five days to cool down. I'm going to talk to her right now."

Sasuke said, running off to Tachi's room. He hesitated and knocked. "Tachi? Open up please. I wanna talk to you." No answer came. "Tachi, come on." Sasuke turned the door know, but it was locked. Enraged, he kicked the door in to find Tachi's bed made, Tachi nowhere to be found.

"She is in so much trouble."

**/AN: review please!**


	17. Into Hiding

**/AN: Hey guys sorry, I haven't updated in a while. My english teacher had my notebook. I own nothing.**

**Chapter Sixteen: Into Hiding**

Tachi awoke next to Hiro first, the sun shining in her eyes.

"Good morning." Tachi mumbled.

"Mernon." Hiro mumbled.

"What time is it?" She asked, sitting up on her elbows.

"I don't know." Hiro stretched and sat up.

"I can't believe we slept at the training grounds all night." Tachi said.

"I know. You're dad's probably looking for you." Hiro replied.

"I doubt it. He never comes into my room. He probably doesn't even know I'm gone." Tachi said. At least she hoped. "Hey let's head over to Misa's to get my stuff." Tachi suggested.

"And then we head over to my house to freshen up?" Hiro replied.

"I guess. I got nothing better to do today." Tachi smiled. Hiro stood up bringing Tachi with him.

"Let's go." Hand in hand, the couple headed to the Uzumaki-Hyuuga household. They got there in record time, and knocked on the door

A disheveled Naruto opened the door. "Tachi? Hiro? Whaddaya want?"

"I left my stuff here last night. Can I come in and get it?" Tachi asked.

"Yeah sure. But you should know your father's looking for you." Naruto replied, standing aside to let Tachi and Hiro though.

"Great. If he comes by here, tell him I never here." Tachi replied, picking up her bag. "Thanks!"

As they left Hiro said, "I told you so."

Tachi playfully smacked Hiro in the head. "Shut up." Hiro smirked.

When they arrived at Hiro's house, the sun was in the middle of the sky. Chihiro was sitting on the front steps.

"What are you doing out here?" Hiro asked her.

"Why are you just now getting home?" Chihiro countered.

"Well played." was Hiro's only answer. Then wit Hough saying anything more, Hiro led Tachi in.

"Um, if you wanna take a shower, the bathroom's up the stairs, down the hall and to the right." Hiro said, gesturing to the stairs.

"Sweet! Thanks! I'll be back!" Tachi kissed Hiro's cheek and ran up the stairs to take a shower.

"Please tell me you're not planning on going up and joining her." Gaara appeared behind Hiro, his son's face turning red.

"I was thinking nothing of the sort." Hiro replied as he dashed up the stairs and entered his room.

Hiro hopped on his bed and thought back to a conversation he had with Taro when they were walking back to the arena.

_**/Flashback/**_

_"Think about it this way. I just saved you a world of hurt from my sister." Taro said through the breathing mask._

_"What are you talking about?" Hiro asked as green hands floated over his chest._

_"My sister is still in love with her last boyfriend." Taro replied._

_"Last boyfriend?"_

_"Yeah. You think you're the only berry in the bush? Think again. There was one before you, but he left Tachi heart broken and alone. And she's still in love with him. You and her get together, she's just going to take advantage of you."_

_Hiro didn't say anything as they entered the arena._

_**/End Flashback/**_

"Hiro are you awake?" a voice said. Hiro opened his eyes to see Tachi, dry haired and fully clothed.

"Yeah."

Tachi sat on the bed beside him. "Tachi, can I ask you something personal?" Hiro asked.

"Yeah, of coarse. What is it?" Tachi replied.

"Taro told me something the other day… and I didn't want to believe it before I heard it from you." Hiro explained.

"Okay. What did you want to ask me?"

"Just know, whatever your answer this won't change anything between us." Hiro continued.

"What is it already?"

Hiro hesitated. "Was there anyone before me?" He said in a rush.

Tachi sighed. "Inuzuka Kazu was my best friend before he died. He's the reason why you're here. He's who you're replacing." Tachi paused to gather her thoughts. "Kazu was in love with me, but I loved him more as a brother than a boyfriend. Taro thought otherwise."

"How did he die?"

Tachi sighed again. "First, you should know that Taro wasn't always a jerk. He was tolerable at one point in time… up until about seven months ago. See, Kazu wasn't just my best friend, he kept Taro on the right path.

When I was still in the hospital after the accident, Taro got really messed up. He started reading up a lot on Orochimaru and the Akatsuki and a lot of forbidden jutsu. He'd come into my room when he thought I was sleeping and read them.

Kazu caught him on day and pulled him out of the slump and said that he was better than those who had to use forbidden jutsu. Kazu pulled Taro out of many slumps like that.

About eight months ago, Renji, Kenji, Taro, Misa, Kazu and I were sent on an A rank mission. The mission was to retrieve a stolen forbidden scroll from Orochimaru's hide out.

It had taken us about two weeks just to find the hide out. Kakashi and Gai sensei split us up into three groups. I was to go with Kazu, Taro with Misa, Renji with Kenji and Kakashi with Gai. We were to split up and search for the scroll.

Kazu and I took the right entrance and headed for the prisoner chamber to see if the prisoners knew anything. Most of the prisoners we found were too mutated to talk or be competent of anything. But then after searching we found a girl around our age. Her name was Sasame.

She told us of a scroll that was hiding in the depths of Orochimaru's hide out She said he put a strong seal on seal on where it was hidden and a lot of genjutsu traps surrounding it.

We left saying that we'd come back for her.

When Kazu and I finally found out way out we headed west and went down a flight of stairs to the basement. The genjutsu felt the strongest down there."

Tachi's voice cracked and she paused. "We weren't paying attention and set off a boobie trap. Kazu got hit with a bunch of poisoned needles. I manage to pull them out of his back but I didn't know how to heal poisoned wounds." Tachi had tears streaming down her face now.

"We decided to retreat to get Kazu help, but Orochimaru's sidekick, Kabuto discovered us and threw us in with the prisoners. We tried everything to get out, but Kazu was dying fast. At this point, he couldn't move and he was sweating so bad his shirt was completely soaked." Tachi was sobbing, her arms folded across her chest. "Then I got a message from Kakashi saying that we were pulling out. I told him that Kazu was hurt. He said that we needed to find a way to get out of there because they planned on blowing up the base. Kazu figured out a way to get out of the base by using a summoning. I got out through a loose bar in the cell. I tried carrying him but he was too heavy.

Kazu told me to leave with out him, and that he'd be okay. That he'd make it out. He told me he loved me and pushed me out of the cell.

I followed the summoning to the exit, and told Kakashi what had happened.

We returned to Konoha. I was convinced that I could still save Kazu. I begged Naruto to let me go back, but there were no other teams that could go.

Finally a team of jonin decided to go out and search for him. But as they opened the gates, they found Kazu's body. He was shirtless and a message had been carved into his chest. It said, 'This is what happens when Konoha doesn't keep their brats to themselves.'

Taro blames me for Kazu's death. That's why he's turned into a self centered arrogant brat. It's my fault Kazu's dead." Tachi sobbed into Hiro's chest.

Hiro didn't know how long they sat like that. Eventually, Tachi stopped crying.

"You remember how you told me that what I did to you wasn't my fault and that things happen for a reason?"

"Yeah." Tachi's voice quivered in the slightest.

"I know this won't take the pain away, but I think Kazu died so we could meet. I think it was fate. And I definitely don't think it was your fault."

"If I didn't leave him there, he'd be alive."

"Tachi, It wasn't your fault." reluctantly, Tachi nodded.

"I'm gonna go take a shower. I'll be back." Hiro kissed Tachi's head, and left the room.

-x-x-x- Hiro -x-x-x-

_'Tachi's been though way too much.' _Hiro thought as he stepped into the hot water.

He wanted to do something nice for her. He thought she deserved it.

-x-x-x- Sasuke -x-x-x-

"Naruto, I know you know where she is." Sasuke growled.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Sasuke." Naruto replied shutting the door.

Sasuke stopped it with his foot. "Naruto."

"Sasuke?"

"Tell me where she is or I'll tell Hinata to hide your Ramen stash." Sasuke threatened.

Naruto's face blanked for a moment, but he quickly recovered. "I'm sorry Sasuke, but no force on this earth can make me tell you where she is."

"So you _do_ know where she is."

"Good day Sasuke." The sixth hokage slammed the door in Sasuke's face.

-x-x-x- Elsewhere -x-x-x-

Itachi stood amongst the trees. "So remind me again why we're rescuing your niece?" Nanami asked.

"Because if we don't, Orochimaru will kill the next Uchiha prodigy. And we can't let that happen." Itachi replied.

"Then why are we in the middle of nowhere?"

"Because we can't just waltz into Konoha unannounced."

"Good point. Why-"

"Why do you ask so many questions?"

-x-x-x- Hiro -x-x-x-

Hiro returned to his room to see Tachi staring at a picture of a brown haired woman with a small red headed boy in her arms. "Your mom was really pretty." she said, suddenly.

"Thank you." Hiro replied. "So I realized that we've been dating for two weeks and I haven't taken you out yet." Tachi nodded.

"Well we haven't really had the time to either. The Uchiha replied.

"Well I wanna take you out. What do you wanna do?" Hiro asked.

"We could go out to eat and explore the town a bit. OH! I could show you my secret spot!" Tachi suggested.

"Sounds good."

Together, Tachi and Hiro walked out the door and past the steps where Chihiro still sat, and out into the city.

"So where do you wanna eat?" Tachi asked.

"Your choice." Hiro replied.

"That's not how it works. I picked what we do so you should pick where we go." Tachi replied.

"Okay then." Hiro thought for a moment. "Are there any barbeque places around here?" Hiro asked.

"It wouldn't be Konoha with out it!" Tachi's face lit up. "Come on! I'll show you!" Tachi grabbed Hiro's hand and the jogged around the corner to the other side of town. Finally they reached their destination and entered. "Welcome to Akimichi's Barbeque! The best barbeque in Fire country. Kana's uncle owns this place so we can get a discount."

"Tachi?" Tachi turned in her seat to see Shikamaru, Ino and Kana.

"Hey, Shikamaru!"

"Does your father know you're here?" Shikamaru asked.

"He came by the shop today madder than a bull under water. He's looking for you." Ino said.

"Tachi what did you do?" Kana asked.

"I know he's looking for me. And I didn't do anything."

"Just be careful okay? I don't want Sasuke up my rear all day. Too troublesome." Shikamaru said, leading his family out.

"Wow. He must be really upset." Tachi said. "All the more reason to hide." Tachi said, looking at the menu.

"Tachi!" Tachi turned in her seat again to see Choji walking up to her.

"Hey, Choji! How's it hangin?"

"Not bad. What about you?"

"Just chillin."

"Remember anything you order is on the house! Same goes for you friend." Choji said.

Tachi and Hiro handed in their orders. "So what are we going to do after this?" Tachi asked.

"You could show me your secret spot." Hiro suggested.

"Okay." she paused. "Oh my God…"

"What's wrong?"

"Get under the table." Tachi said quickly, looking behind Hiro.

"Why?" Hiro asked, confused.

"Just get under the table. DON'T LOOK! Just do it!"

Quickly, Tachi and Hiro ducked under the table to see Sasuke go by.

"Choji have you seen Tachi anywhere?" They heard him ask.

"Yeah she was just here, with Gaara's kid." Choji answered.

"Which one?" Sasuke growled.

"Um… I think his name's Hiro."

"On three we mask out chakra's and run for the door." Hiro whispered.

"One… two… three…" Pumping chakra to their feet, Hiro and Tachi raced to the door and didn't look behind them. They kept running until they reached the opposite side of town.

"Your parents… are gonna… think you've been kidnapped." Hiro panted, his hands on his knees.

"All the more reason to stay away from Sasuke." Tachi looked up. "We're here anyway."

In front of them was a stairway along a mountain wall. "We have to climb up all of these steps?"

"No. You ever climbed a tree with out your hands?" Tachi asked.

"Yes."

"Same concept. Just with a wall of rocks."

"Alright. Let's do it then."

Together, they pumped chakra to their feet and ran up the side of the mountain, reaching the top in a matter of minutes.

Finally they turned around and looked out at the scene before them.

"Holy… oh my god." Hiro's eyes got wide.

"From a top the hokage mountain you can see all of Konoha and beyond. I come up here all the time to think."

"It's beautiful up here." Hiro said, sitting down.

"You should see it at sunset. The sun casts an orange glow on everything and it looks like something out of a fairy tale."

"I thought I'd find you up here." a voice said, behind them. Hiro and Tachi turned around to see Kakashi.

"Kakashi? How'd you find me, here?" Tachi asked.

"To be honest Tachi, you're not that hard to find. In fact, I'm surprised Sasuke hasn't found you yet." Kakashi replied.

"Just luck I guess." Tachi said.

"I take it you still hate him?" Kakashi asked.

"Mhm." Tachi replied.

"Your father loves you Tachi. That's why he's been out looking for you all day."

"If he really loved me, he wouldn't have kept secrets from me." Tachi said.

Kakashi sighed. "What is it going to take to get you to forgive him?"

"I don't know yet."

"Just think it over, okay?"

"Sure thing."

With that, Kakashi left.

"Alright. I don't think we should hang around her any longer." Tachi said, turning to Hiro.

"Why's that?" Hiro asked.

Because Kakashi just found us. You think he's just going to keep quiet about it?"

"I'm not sure. I don't really know Kakashi too well." Hiro replied.

"Probably not. So if we don't leave soon, I'll bet you ten bucks, Sasuke shows up." Tachi answered, jumping down to the stairs below.

"So we're just going to walk down?"

"Yup."

-x-x-x- Sasuke -x-x-x-

"Did you find her, Kakashi?"

"She's on top of the Hokage monument. Hiro's with her." Kakashi said.

"I swear to Kami I'm gonna break that kid's neck."

"Be nice Sasuke." Kakashi said as his ex student jumped off.

-x-x-x- Hiro and Tachi -x-x-x-

Night had fallen and Hiro and Tachi had been hanging out all over town.

"So, are you going to go back home or would you rather stay with me tonight?" Hiro asked, snaking his arms around Tachi's waist.

"What do you think?"

"I'm thinking you're gonna stay here with me?"

"You think right." Tachi and Hiro walked inside the house, hand in hand.

"Tachi your father's been here three times looking for you." Gaara said looking over the top of a scroll.

"Has he? Rumor has it he's been looking for me all day." Tachi replied.

"I take it you're avoiding him." Gaara said.

"Yup. I'm avoiding him like the plague. Although, he seems to keep catching up." Tachi replied.

"Oh great. The Uchiha's back." Chihiro said from the couch.

"Do you hate me now too?" Tachi asked.

"Yeah kinda." Tachi rolled her eyes.

"Please ignore her." Hiro said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Please shut up." Chihiro replied.

"Go die."

"You first."

Hiro stuck his tongue out and pulled his eyelid down.

"Baka."

"Oddity."

"Teme."

"Skank."

"Like your girlfriend? Are you gonna kill her like you killed mom?"

Hiro's fists clenched, as he glared at Chihiro who glared back. "Low blow. Even for you." Hiro grabbed Tachi's hand and led her toward his room.

When they arrived, Hiro sat on his bed. "You can go take a shower if you want to." He said softly, avoiding Tachi's eyes.

"Alright. I'll be back." Tachi said, deciding it was best to give Hiro same space.

-x-x-x- Uchiha Household -x-x-x-

"Did you find her?" Sakura asked as Sasuke walked through the door.

"No, not yet." Sasuke replied.

"I'm telling you , she's probably hiding out at Hiro's house." Taro said.

"I checked there three times Taro. I checked all of her friend's houses." Sasuke replied.

"You'll find her Sasuke." Sakura comforted.

-x-x-x- Tachi -x-x-x-

Tachi returned ten minutes later to see Hiro sitting in the same position he was when she left. Tachi sat beside him.

"Hey, you okay?" Tachi asked.

"Yeah. I just don't see why she brought it up. I guess you know my big secret now." Hiro said, looking at Tachi.

"She actually told me when I battled her in the chuunin exams." Tachi said, leaning on Hiro's shoulder.

"The worst part is Chihiro's never forgive me for it."

"I'm sorry." Tachi replied.

"Don't be. It's not your fault." Hiro said. "It seems we say that a lot."

"I've noticed. So what's up for tomorrow?"

"The chuunin exams."

"Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot about that."

"Are you still planning on avoiding Sasuke after that?" Hiro asked.

"No. I can't avoid him forever." Tachi said as they laid down.

"Makes since."

"If I send you a message, you'd come get me right?" Tachi asked.

"Of coarse."

"Good. I might need you to rescue me from Sasuke." Tachi replied, sleepily.

"Just call me if you need me." Hiro said, wrapping his arms around her as she snuggled into his chest.

"I will." and with that, they drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

**/AN: review please!**


	18. Finals: Uchiha Show Down!

**/AN: Sorry guys. I meant to update the last chapter sooner but everytime I pressed the "edit story" button, it said there was an error and I couldn't update.**

**Chapter Seventeen: Finals: Uchiha Show Down!**

Tachi awake next to Hiro the next morning. "Hello." Hiro said beside her.

"How long have you been up?" Tachi asked.

"About… three hours. You talk in your sleep." Hiro said, kissing Tachi's forehead. "We should probably get up. You've got an exam to win."

Tachi nodded and within the time span of fifteen minutes she was showered, dressed and out the door. Together, they raced toward the arena, hand in hand. "I should probably go first to make sure Sasuke isn't in there waiting to ambush you or something." Hiro suggested. Tachi nodded.

"See you in there." Tachi said as Hiro went in.

After a few minutes, she heard Hiro's voice say," Sasuke's not in here. You're safe." Tachi went in to register.

"Name?" the attendant asked.

"Uchiha Tachi." Checking the list, the attendant gave her the pass to get in.

"Go through those doors and to the left." Tachi nodded and ran through the doors but stumbled into Hiro.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Hiro asked, jokingly.

"You waited for me?" Tachi was shocked.

"Of course. Come on, let's get inside." Hiro put his arm around Tachi's waist and led her through the two double doors.

"Tachi! You made it!" Renji was standing on a table in mid pose.

"Renji, what are you doing?" Tachi asked.

"…Nothing…" Renji replied. Hopping down. Tachi looked around the room. Taro was in a corner by himself, and Kenji was on a small ratty couch. Hikari was sitting oddly close to Renji-who was now sitting on the couch-and Mizuki was on the floor meditating.

"So when does this thing start." Tachi asked.

"In about five minutes." Tachi jumped. Kakashi had popped up behind her. Tachi looked at her sensei to see Gai and Naruto behind him. "We've come to wish you all luck. More quietly he said, "It seems someone didn't come home last night. Tachi, you know your father is still looking for you?"

Tachi sweat dropped. "So I've heard."

"That reminds me Tachi, I should get going. I'll be rooting for you." Hiro kissed Tachi's cheek and left.

"Now we'll announce the order the rounds go in. Round one: Uchiha Taro and  
Uchiha Tachi."

Tachi glared in Taro's general direction. "Good. I've been needing to give him a good arse kicking." Tachi said under her breath.

Kakashi sighed, but continued. "Round two: Hyuuga Kenji and Hyuuga Hikari."

"Sweet! Good luck bro!" Hikari threw a peace sign.

"Round three: Aiko Mizuki and Uzumaki-Hyuuga Renji."

"Good luck, my youthful student!" Gai bounded toward Taro, arms open wide.

"Gai… I'm not Lee. I'm not going to hug you with the 'power of youth'."

"You hold too much anger my student. How unyouthful. Have you forgotten everything I taught you?" Gai dove for another hug.

"Get outta my way old man!" Taro knocked Gai on his head, ducking out of the way. "Pedophilic perv." Taro mumbled under his breath.

Suddenly, the muffled screams of the word, "Uchiha" began. "That's you two . Go on before you're disqualified." Kakashi said.

Tachi and Taro walked into the arena, the deafening screams seemed to get louder. "You ready for this?" Tachi asked.

"Way more than you are." Taro replied.

"You'll pay for thinking you could come between me and Hiro." Tachi growled, taking a stance.

"So you finally figured it out? Took you long enough." Taro took a different stance.

"Looks like the two siblings are ready to fight to the death! This may proven to be a promising battle." A voice boomed over the stadium.

"When you are ready you may begin." Heyate said as he jumped out of the way. Tachi and Taro charged at each other, throwing punches this way and that.

_"You got this Tachi!"_ Kana's voice came in loud and clear in Tachi's head.

_"Yeah! We believe in you!"_ And then there was Hikari.

_"Sorry Tachi. They stole my necklace. Good Luck!"_ Hiro's voice rang in Tachi's ears. She narrowly dodged a kick to the face. Both paused, panting.

"You think you can beat me?" Taro challenged. His cheekbone has a growing bruise.

"I know I can beat you. You lack immensely Taro."

"What do you think you have that I don't?" Taro growled.

"Teamwork. Friends that support you. The ability to listen and work with people you don't like. You lack respect. And you need to learn it before you'll get anywhere." Tachi replied.

"That's what you think. You're such a priss. The only person you can rely on in life is yourself."

"If you believe that, you really won't get anywhere."

"Just shut up and fight me!"

"With pleasure." Tachi charged at Taro, her body exploding with electricity.

Taro ran up the side of the arena wall, fire shooting from his mouth. Tachi swerved to the side and threw lightning toward Taro, seemingly hitting him in the chest.

Taro fell to the ground, motionless. Tachi moved slowly closer to him. Suddenly Taro jumped up and tackled Tachi to the ground. He straddled her to hold her down, punching her face with both hands.

"What gives you the right to take a life? Who are you to judge who lives and dies? Huh?" Taro stopped hitting Tachi out of exhaustion.

Tachi was silent for a while. "How many times do I have to tell you? It was not my fault! Kazu's death was an accident!" Tachi pushed Taro off of her. Before he could get up, Tachi straddled Taro the way he had done her a few seconds before.

"You think I wanted Kazu to die? You think I'm that heartless?" Taro didn't answer. "Answer me!"

"What about Riki, huh? You're a curse! Everyone around you dies!" Taro growled.

"Riki fell off that cliff. I tried to save her. She would've died anyway. She had been poisoned just like Kazu."

"You're a liar!"

"I saw Kabuto inject her with the poison! If she hadn't run off to kill him, she would still be here!" Tachi's body started to static.

"You're a murderer! Just admit it! You killed them both!"

"Tachi stayed silent but her face held a thousand words. Chakra coursed through Tachi's hand. Taro stopped struggling. "What… did you… do to me?" Taro struggled to get the words out.

"Cherub Chakra Fire. I invented it myself. My chakra poisoned your chakra. You won't die, but you're paralyzed for however long I want you to be. In this case, you'll be paralyzed for the next two hours. More than long enough for me to win the match." Tachi stood up, leaving Taro where he lay. "We're done here."

"Winner: Uchiha Tachi."

Tachi returned to the room where the others were waiting.

"You did it! That was amazing!" Hikari said high-fiving Tachi.

"I agree." Hiro wrapped his arms around Tachi's waist, kissing her forehead. "You were excellent."

"Get a room!" Renji yelled. Kenji rolled his eyes.

**/AN: review please!**


	19. Finals: Kenji vs Hikari

**/AN: Chapter 18: Finals: Kenji vs. Hikari**

"Kenji and Hikari, you're up next. Head out there." Kakashi said.

"Aw right! Let's do it!" Hikari was pumped.

"Calm down Hikari." Kenji said.

"Oh come on, I act no different than Kana." Hikari said. "Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink."

Kenji blushed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you do. Your major crush on my-" Kenji slapped his hand over Hikari's mouth, leading her out. Tachi and Hiro could hear Kenji mumbling something about, "big mouth" and "idiot".

Tachi had her face buried in Hiro's shoulder. "Is he gone?" she whispered.

"Yeah. Are you okay?" Hiro asked. Tachi pulled her face out of Hiro's shoulder and sat on the couch and sobbed.

"What's wrong?" Hiro sat beside Tachi, putting his arms around her and pulling her into his lap.

"It's my fault. It's all my fault. Kazu and Riki. I'm sorry… I'm so sorry." Tachi sobbed onto Hiro's shirt.

"Tachi, it wasn't your fault." Hiro rubbed circles in her back.

"I killed Riki…"

"Tachi, it was accident."

"No! Riki went out the day after we found Kazu. I chased after her with Naruto. Riki attacked the sound base. Kabuto caught her. We tried to rescue her, but Kabuto injected her with the same poison they used for the poisoned needles.

He dragged her out to a cliff, and returned to the base. Riki fell down and started to fall over the cliff, but I got to her first.

I caught her and tried to pull her up but she was too heavy. I told her it would be okay but my palms were sweaty and she fell. It's my fault Riki's dead. I killed them both. It's all my fault." Hiro kept holding Tachi as her sobs quieted to soft sniffles.

"Get your hands off my daughter." Hiro and Tachi's eyes widened. Tachi turned to see Sasuke standing in the doorway, sharingan flared.

Hiro backed away an inch from Tachi. _'Whatever you do, don't take the necklace off.' _he thought.

_'I won't.'_

_ 'Remember: I love you.'_

_ 'I love you too.'_

Satisfied, Sasuke turned his eyes to Tachi. "Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?"

"I never left Konoha. It's not my fault you have sucky tracking skills." Tachi replied.

"It doesn't matter if you left Konoha or not. There are people out there who want our clan annihilated. You and Taro and Suichiro must stay safe. Do you have any idea how scared your mother and I were?

Tachi didn't say anything. "Just tell me what my punishment is."

Sasuke sighed. "Grounded three months. No friends. Confined to your room except for meal times. As for you," Sasuke turned his attention to Hiro, "If I ever catch you with my daughter again, Gaara will find you dead on your door step."

"Is that a threat?" Hiro stood up and got in Sasuke's face.

"Take it as you want. Stay. Away. From. Tachi"

"I can do whatever I want. You don't have any power over me and to add onto it, I'm here until Tachi orders me away." Tachi stood up and wrapped her arms around Hiro.

"And you can't take Hiro away from me."

"Tachi, let's go." Sasuke ordered.

"No." Sasuke picked Tachi up and slung her over his shoulder. "Put me down! Let me go!" Tachi screamed and kicked. Defenseless, Hiro stood and watched Tachi be dragged out the door.

-x-x-x- Kenji and Hikari -x-x-x-

"Nice move Hikari. Can you handle this?" Kenji performed 64 Palms to an almost perfect extent.

Hikari panted, but pulled out a scroll from her pouch and sent a barrage of kunai, shuriken and senbon at her older brother. Just a small shuriken grazed his shoulder. "You're good at this. I think I might actually lose."

Kenji sprung forward and hit a pressure point in Hikari's neck, causing her to pass out. "Sorry Hikari."

"Winner: Hyuuga Kenji." Kenji returned to the waiting room, where he saw Hiro sitting on the couch.

"Where's Tachi?" Kenji asked.

"Her father took her home." Hiro replied.

"May I ask why?"

Hiro shrugged. "Sasuke's a jerk."

Kenji nodded, as Renji came in. "Where've you been?" Kenji asked.

"I had to go to the bathroom." Renji said as if it pained him to say it.

"Then why the black eye?" Hiro questioned, curious as to what happened.

"Wrong bathroom." Renji replied, grinning. Renji and Hiro burst out in a roar of laughter. "Hey! It wasn't my fault, okay?"

"How do you go into the wrong bathroom?" Hiro asked between laughs.

"Someone switched the signs before I went in! I swear!" Kenji tried explaining.

"Then how were girls in there already?" Kenji asked trying to compose himself.

Renji glared at Hiro and Kenji but sat down between them.

Kakashi walked in to the room. "The next and final round is Mizuki and Renji."

**/AN: review please!**


	20. Finals: Mizuki vs Renji

**/AN: Oh... my.. god... The chuunin exam arc is FINALLY OVER! I'm terribly sorry. I can't write battle scenes. If they suck I apoligize. Chapter 19: Finals: Mizuki vs. Renji.**

"So where Mizuki?" Renji asked.

"Down in the battlefield. Where you should be." Kakashi replied.

Renji panicked and ran down to the arena. He made it there in record time.

"It's about time. What took you so long?" Mizuki asked a serious look on her face.

"I got confused."

"It seems like you do that quite a lot." Mizuki replied.

"Yeah, kinda." Mizuki rolled her eyes, and lunged for Renji, who dodged swiftly.

"For scatterbrained monkey, you're quick on your feet." Mizuki said.

"Like a cheetah, baby!"

Renji looked for Mizuki only to find the space in front of him unoccupied. "Watch your back," Mizuki taunted, about to strike with a kunai. Quickly, Renji turned around and knocked the kunai out of Mizuki's hand.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" One hundred Renji popped up. "Rasengan!" Renji's attack hit Mizuki dead on. "I win!"

"Winner: Uzumaki-Hyuuga Renji." The crowd roared with celebration. When I call your name, please step forward. Subaku Hiro. Subaku Chihiro. Uchiha Tachi. Rai. Uzumaki Hyuuga Renji. And Aiko Mizuki." Everyone made their way to the center of the battle field. "To those of you standing here, Congratulations. You've all made it to chuunin. This concludes the chuunin exams.

"Hey Hiro, we're headed to Kenji's house for a party to celebrate. Just us guys. You coming?" Renji asked.

Hiro glanced over to Tachi who was already being dragged away by Sasuke. "Yeah, I guess so."

-x-x-x- Itachi and Nanami -x-x-x-

"Itachi-sama, can we take a rest? We've been running at this pace for hours." Nanami said falling behind.

Itachi stopped abruptly. And kneeled down. "Come on. We don't have a lot of time. Orochimaru's already on the move. I can feel his foul presence. "Gratefully, Nanami climbed on and they were off.

-x-x-x- Elsewhere -x-x-x-

"You do remember the plan Kabuto?" a sinister voice asked.

"Of course, Lord Orochimaru. You will shall be executed as planned." Kabuto said.

"Excellent. Oh and Kabuto? I believe Uchiha Itachi has been trailing us for quite sometime now. Make sure he doesn't get in your way.

"As you wish."

**/AN: review please!**


	21. Kidnapped

**/AN: MUAHAHAHAHAHA! read. Chapter 20: Kidnapped**

-x-x-x- Uchiha Household x-x-x-

Sasuke and Tachi arrive in the kitchen five minutes after Tachi was announced chuunin. "Room. Now," was all Sasuke said as he glared at the sink.

Tachi complied making as much noise as she could, running up the stairs, slamming her down. Sasuke sighed and looked to Sakura, who slept peacefully on the couch. Carefully, as not to wake her, he lifter her bridal style and carried her to their bed.

-x-x-x- Hyuuga Household -x-x-x-

"So are you and Tachi dating now?" Renji asked, cluelessly.

"We're trying to, but between Taro and Sasuke, it's more like sneaking around." Hiro replied casually.

"That's gotta suck." Renji said, turning his attention to the fridge.

"I thought you liked Tachi." Kenji said, flopping down on the couch. Hiro raised a brow as if to say, "You're kidding… right?"

"Not anymore. Not like that at least." Renji said, sticking his head farther into the freezer.

"First, must you always raid my refrigerator when you're at my house? And second, so the tattoo you got was for some silly crush?" Kenji pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Yes, I must. And no. Not entirely." Renji replied. Finding what he was looking for. "So where are Uncle Neji and Aunt TenTen?"

"Out on some date for tonight. And Hikari's at Kana's so we have the house to ourselves." Kenji said, as Renji made his way over to the couch with a twenty four pack of soda. He handed Kenji and Hiro one, while also retrieving one for himself.

"So Hiro, what is Suna like this time of year?" Renji asked.

Hiro sweat dropped. "Sandy. Cooler. And Windy." He explained.

"Sounds nice. I HAVE AN IDEA!" Renji yelled obnoxiously.

"And what's that?" Kenji asked sarcastically.

"We should play Truth." Renji said, clearly proud of himself.

"What's truth?" Hiro asked, glancing between Renji and Kenji.

"It's like truth or dare but you have to ask each other questions and answer truthfully. No dares allowed. It's really fun!" Renji explained, giddy with excitement.

"It's really stupid." Kenji said.

"Why don't we just play truth or dare?" Hiro asked. Renji and Kenji's faces got grim.

"The last time we played truth or dare it was with Kazu and we didn't shower for a month." Kenji said.

"Tachi told me about that." Hiro replied, regretting bringing it up.

"So do you guys wanna play?" Renji asked.

"Sure."

"Whatever."

"Me first! Okay, Hiro. Have you and Tachi," Renji lowered his voice to a whisper, "done the dirty?"

Hiro felt his face get hot. "No."

"Liar." Renji said accusingly, pointing a finger in Hiro's general direction.

"Renji!" Kenji bonked Renji on the head with a remote.

"What the heck was that for?" Renji asked. Kenji glared and Hiro's face was still beet red. "What? You don't date a chick like Tachi and _not _bang her! I mean seriously!"

"Some people have more respect for women than you do!" Kenji chastised.

"Thank you Kenji. My point exactly."

"Okay Kenji your turn." Renji said.

Kenji groaned. "Renji, if you don't like Tachi, who's your new interest?"

"Your sister." Renji said simply.

"MY WHAT?"

"I'm sorry! Your sister's freakin' hot. And plus, she has this thing about her. Her hyperness is extremely attractive." Renji explained.

Hiro chuckled. "No. Absolutely not. You evil corrupted monkey! You touch my sister, you a dead man!" Kenji threatened.

"Aw come on! Re you gonna make me like Tachi and Hiro? Force to meet in complete secrecy? That's terrible, Kenji!" Renji begged.

"Okay, my turn." Hiro said, ending the argument. "Kenji, since we're on the subject, who do you like?"

"Let's not go there shall we?" Kenji replied.

"Oh no! I don't think so! We all answered the question! You gotta answer too!" Renji said, pointed the finger of doom.

Kenji mumbled something unintelligent. "What? Speak up! We can't hear you!" Renji taunted.

"NARA KANA!"

"Oh. My. God. You can't be serious!" Renji's face broke into a smile.

"I'm serious okay?" Kenji yelled. Renji burst out into a fit of laughter.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up." Kenji said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Kana's the blonde ditzy hyper active chick, right?" Hiro asked.

"That's her." Renji said between laughs. Hiro joined Renji in laughter.

"Dude, you're all silent and calculating and yet you fall for a girl like Kana? That's a combination." Hiro replied.

"Ha ha. Very funny. Can we act like civilized people here?" Kenji asked. Hiro and Renji stopped laughing for a brief moment, but continued laughing three seconds later.

"You people are imbeciles." Kenji said.

After Renji and Hiro stopped laughing, they continues their game of truth, coming up with the stupidest questions ranging form pickles to bra sizes.

-x-x-x- Tachi -x-x-x-

Tachi sat on her bed, crying softly to herself. She had locked her door and for good measure, shoved her dresser in front of it. Sasuke had put a sealing jutsu on her window so she couldn't get out.

She wanted sound, some type of noise to distract her from the surrounding silence. She wanted food to cure her hunger. She wanted a shower to wash the sweat of the chuunin exam from her body. But most of all, she just wanted Hiro. She hated being alone and the never ending silence that came with it. She hated how cold her sheets felt next to her. She hated the face that she had no idea when she'd see Hiro again. But for the most part, she hated Sasuke, and how he overreacted at the slightest disappearance.

Tachi willed herself to sleep, lulling her mind with angry, self centered thoughts.

-x-

Tachi woke with a start. She glanced around her dark room. Everything seemed normal. She tried to fall asleep again, but a wake of uneasiness swept over her, keeping her awake.

Suddenly, she heard a bump from the corner of her room Tachi sat up straight grabbing for the kunai she left between her mattresses, her eyes darting between her window and her closet. "Okay, I know you're there. Show yourself, or I'll scream." she threatened.

"Now what good will that do if your dresser is in front of your locked door?" The creepy voice said.

"I'm warning you, show yourself." Tachi warned, the kunai raised.

"As you wish." Kabuto released the genjutsu, revealing himself to the young Uchiha.

"Kabuto what do you want?" Tachi asked, hostility in her voice.

"Now, now Tachi. No reason to be angry with me. I've done nothing to you." Kabuto replied.

"You took my best friend away from me! You killed Kazu!" Tachi meant to yell it, but it came out as a whisper.

"You two were snooping in things you shouldn't have been snooping in. You're lucky it was him I killed and not you." Kabuto said bushing his glasses into place.

"What are you here for?" Tachi asked again.

"My orders were simple: take Uchiha Tachi from her home and bring her to Orochimaru." Now if you'll come quietly, it'll be much easier." Kabuto extended his hand.

"Like hell." Tachi lunged for Kabuto's neck but Kabuto tackled her to the ground, wrapping a cloth around her nose and mouth. Her last thoughts were to Hiro: _'Help!'_

-x-x-x- Hyuuga Household -x-x-x-

Empty cans and chip bags lay strewn about the room, Renji, Kenji, and Hiro were asleep in many different positions. Renji was in a recliner upside down, his face red from his position. Kenji was laying half on the couch half off, a half empty soda can still in his hand. Hiro was on the other side of the couch, his feet over lapping onto Kenji's head, a plastic chip bag still stuck on his head.

Suddenly, a loud voice rang in Hiro's head. _'Help!' _With a cry, Hiro fell off the couch, kicking Kenji's head in the process. _'Tachi? Are you okay?'_ no answer came.

"Dude, seriously? What the heck was that for?" Kenji asked, sitting up.

"Wuz all the yelling about?" Renji asked.

"Tachi's been kidnapped. We have to help her." Hiro said, jumping up.

"What are you talking about?" Renji asked, clueless. "Ow, my head." The blond clutched his head, the blood rushing away from his head.

"How can you be so sure?" Kenji asked.

Hiro explained the necklaces and what had happened. "We have to find her!"

"Let's check her house, Sasuke'll have to go check her room." Kenji said. They nodded, pulling on their shoes and racing out the door.

The boys ran quickly to the Uchiha's house and made it there in a matter of minutes. Kenji banged on the door. "What's the matter with you? Don't you know-" Sasuke opened his eyes to look at Kenji. Hiro had gone around to Tachi's window. "What are you doing here at this time of night?"

"Tachi's been kidnapped! Renji's gone to alert Naruto." Kenji said in a rush.

"That's nonsense! Tachi has a seal on her window. Nobody can get in or out.." Sasuke replied.

"I'm serious! Tachi's in trouble!"

-x-x-x- Hiro -x-x-x-

Hiro climbed through the window with the broken seal, only to find two people cloaked in black with red clouds. "Oh crap, talking mushrooms. You're gonna kill me now, right?" Hiro asked.

"Well that depends. Who are you?" Itachi asked.

"Subaku Hiro… Tachi's boyfriend. I'm guessing you're the one who kidnapped Tachi?" Hiro asked nervously.

"No."

"Then why are you here?"

"To rescue Tachi we knew about Orochimaru plan to kidnap Tachi for a while. However, it appears we arrive too late." Itachi said.

"Why are you here?" Nanami asked

"Who are you?" Hiro asked back, his gaze glancing between Itachi and Nanami.

"I asked you first." Nanami replied.

Hiro felt it better not to pressure them. "I heard Tachi's distress call from necklace. It can manipulate chakra so I can hear thoughts from the partner necklace, which Tachi just happens to have."

"That may help us find her. You live." Itachi said.

"What makes you think I should trust you?" Hiro asked. Itachi shoved a file in Hiro's face. "What's this?"

"My last mission file. Given by the third Hokage himself." Itachi replied. Hiro looked through the file.

"Dear sweet Kami, you're innocent. Well, somewhat." Hiro said. Itachi glared. "Sorry. So why are you in Akatsuki if the Uchiha Massacre was a mission?"

"Because the only people to know about the mission was the third hokage, the counselors, and myself. I had nowhere else to go. Just know, I've never killed any other soul." Hiro stayed silent. "It seems my brother has come looking for his daughter. I'll meet you at the gate. Bring my file." Itachi said, before poofing out.

Hiro concealed his chakra and hid under the bed, just as Sasuke came barging through Tachi's door, knocking her dresser over in the process. "Kuso."

"I'll get a rescue team together at once." Naruto's voice was heard, as foot steps raced down the steps.

"Hiro, I know you're in here." Kenji said. Hiro unmasked his chakra, hid Itachi's file and climbed out from under the bed.

"Let's go to the tower."

-x-

It wasn't until much later that multiple people had arrived in Naruto's office. "Naruto you have to let me go! This is my daughter we're talking about!" Sasuke yelled.

"You don't think I know that Sasuke? That's why I can't let you go on this mission! You're too emotionally tied to Tachi. You're emotions will get in the way of rational thought. I already have the team planned out. Now SIT DOWN!"

Sasuke did as he was told. He knew Naruto was right. "Subaku Hiro, Uchiha Taro, Hyuuga Kenji, and Uzumaki-Hyuuga Renji. Your mission is to find Uchiha Tachi and bring her home."

"Hai." They all said at once.

"This is a mission you cannot fail. Hiro's brought in some necklaces. I'll have him explain how they work." Naruto said.

Hiro faced everyone and took black corded necklaces attached to silver ornaments out of a box Naruto was holding. To Renji he handed a six pointed star. To Kenji he handed a comet. And to Taro he handed an ornament with two crosses arrows.

"I'm not taking give outs from him." Taro said, refusing the necklace.

"Then you refuse to go on the mission Taro!" Naruto yelled.

Reluctantly, Taro took the necklace from Hiro's hand and placed it around his neck. "To use the necklace send a tiny pulse of chakra through the necklace think of the face of the person you want to communicate with and send a thought."

Renji had his eyes squinted shut. _'Like this?' _he asked Hiro.

"Yeah but without the squinting." Hiro replied back.

"Pack only what you need. You meet at the gate in an hour." With that, they departed.

-x-x-x- Hiro -x-x-x-

Hiro began unpacking his mission bag as soon as he got home. Remember that he was going to meet Itachi and Nanami, he went to his drawer and grabbed two extra necklaces and placed them in his pocket. He stocked his holster with varied weapons and scrolls. Next, walked to his closet and pulled out two t-shirts and two pairs of pants.

Hiro thought of Tachi and walked out of the door.

-x-x-x- Taro -x-x-x-

It was all his fault. That red headed psycho got his sister kidnapped. And for that, he was going to pay. He just had to figure out how.

Taro packed his bag angrily until he heard a knock on his door. "What?" Taro yelled. The door opened and Sasuke walked in.

"Taro, listen. This may be the most important mission you ever go on. You have to find Tachi."

"I know that."

-x-x-x- Tachi -x-x-x-

Tachi stirred and opened her eyes.

"She's awake! Hideki she's awake!" a high pitched voice said.

"Good. That' means she's not dead." another replied.

"So you know her Sasame?" another voice entered.

"Yes Hideki. Tachi, can you hear me?"

"Yeah. Where am I?" Tachi asked.

"The same place you were seven months ago."

"Kazu?"

"I'm sorry about your friend."

Tachi sat up. "Sasame?"

"Hey." Sasame had orange hair and blue eyes. Tachi looked over to the two four year olds next to her. One was female with brown and brown eyes. The other was male with brown eyes and was blind.

"Who are the twins?" Tachi asked.

Sasame pointed to the female and said, "This is Tanabi." Then she pointed to the blind boy and said," And this is Hideki. The came here about a month ago. Tanabi and Hideki, this is Tachi."

_'Hiro?'_ No answer came for a moment.

_'Oh dear sweet Kami! Tachi are you okay?" _Hiro asked.

_'Yeah. I'm fine for now. Kabuto kid-'_

_ 'I know, I know. Listen Tachi, we're coming to get you. Just hold on okay?'_

_ 'I love you.'_

_ 'I love you too. Stay safe.'_

"Uchiha Tachi. You're finally awake." there in front of her, she saw Kabuto. He opened the cell and dragged Tachi into the hall. Kabuto led her down into the lair and threw her down on the floor.

"Do you know why you're here Uchiha Tachi?"

"Because you're a sick minded monster who like to screw four eyed freaks?" Tachi struggled to bring herself up on all fours.

Orochimaru glared. "You're here because I need a new body, and yours was the on I chose."

**/AN: review please!**


	22. Rescue Mission Part 1: From Konoha

**/AN: Hey guys! Here's the next chappie! **

**Chapter 21: Rescue Mission Part 1: From Konoha**

Chapter 21

Rescue Mission Part 1: From Konoha

Renji, Kenji, Hiro and Taro met at the gate at the same time. "Good luck. You're not to come back unless one of you is dying, or you have Tachi safe in your hold." Naruto said.

"Hai."

With that, the four boys set out. Hiro remembered the extra necklaces in his pocket, and silently wondered where Itachi and Nanami were.

After they had walked for about an hour, a blur of black and red jumped down from the trees. Kenji, Renji and Taro had their weapons raised, ready to attack.

"My file?" Itachi asked.

"Oh yeah." Hiro bent down and reached into his bag pulling out Itachi's mission file.

"Back up a minute here! You're helping S-Ranked criminals? I'm confused." Renji scratched his head.

"I knew you were bad, but come on!" Taro yelled.

"Maybe you should read the file instead of spewing filth you elders think they know." Itachi shoved the file in Taro's face. Taro hesitated and opened the file.

"This has gotta be a fake." Taro said.

"How can it be a fake Taro? It's signed by the third hokage."

"Then why did you kill everyone else, but keep Tou-san alive? And don't give me that, 'to test my power' bull crap." Taro said.

In the blink of an eye, Itachi was an inch from Taro's face, Taro cowering in his soles. "Firstly, I shall tell you whatever I please. And secondly, that matter is between Sasuke and I."

"So why are you here? And why does Hiro have your mission file? Are you going to kill us?" Renji asked, all at once.

"You ask too many questions." Nanami said.

"Who are you?" Kenji asked.

Nanami slapped her forehead in frustration. "Why does everybody always ask me that?" Sighing she said, "I am Nanami Kurosaki-Uchiha. Technically I'm the niece of Konan. I hail from the land of grass. I'm female and 28 years of age. Anymore bright questions?"

"Nope." Kenji replied.

Itachi rolled his eyes. "Back to the young Uzumaki's questions. I am here to help you rescue Tachi."

"Yeah, you think you twerps could go up against Orochimaru on your own? Bunch of crazies." Nanami cut in.

"Hiro has my mission file because I left it with him in Tachi's room."

"Why were you in Tachi's room?" Renji asked stupidly.

"Pay attention you fool!"

"I gave the file to Hiro so he could show it to you before we met with you. Apparently, he's too dimwitted to get the hint." The elder Uchiha finished. "And no. I'm not going to kill you."

"So are you still in Akatsuki?" Kenji asked.

"No. The first fire we come upon we'll rid ourselves of the wretched organization and dispose of the cloaks."

"But why don't you keep them? I mean that's history you'd be destroying. Are you insane?" Taro bugged.

"Most people think so, yes." Itachi responded, a hint of a smirk on his face.

"I'm serious! You burn that cloak, you burn the past!" Taro insisted.

Itachi stared at his nephew intently. "You've had a strong interest in the forbidden jutsu, have you not?" he asked.

"How did you know that?" Taro's face was angry. Whatever amusement that had played on Itachi's lips had vanished.

"I can see it. That is why I must burn the cloak."

Taro was about to argue when Hiro cut in. "Not to interrupt, but my girlfriend is kind of being held captive by a giant ugly snake bastard and I'd kind of like to get her back before she turns into a vegetable."

"Hiro's right. We need to get a move on. It's a long way to Sound. And Orochimaru is not a merciful beast." Itachi said, taking the necklace Hiro offered him and Nanami. Itachi's necklace was a single lightning bolt while Nanami's was two lightning bolts connected.

-x-x-x- Tachi -x-x-x-

Tachi's scream could be heard all over the base. The look on the snake sanin's face showed only amusement, like a cat playing with it's food.

Kabuto shoved the blade deeper into the Uchiha's chest, causing her to scream once more. "This will just make you stronger, less corrupted by pain. Soon you won't be able to feel it.

Tachi struggled to catch her breath. "GO DIE!"

"Kabuto, teach our guest some manners, would you?" In the blink of an eye, Kabuto had unsheathed the sword from its bloody casing and embedded it deep in Tachi's body again. This time, Tachi fell limp on the cold stone ground.

"I believe that's enough, Kabuto. Take her to her cell." Kabuto nodded and pulled the sword out of Tachi's body, slugger her over his shoulder and hauled her into her cell.

"Sasame, can you fix her?" Tanabi asked, terrified at the sight of all the blood.

"Maybe."

Tachi gasped for air as Sasame held green glowing hands over her wounds. Slowly they healed to an extent where she wouldn't bleed to death.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Hideki asked.

"I think so. But if she has a rescue team coming, they'd better hurry." Sasame replied.

-x-x-x- elsewhere -x-x-x-

Itachi had finally gotten a sense of what Konoha's children had become. Judging by Renji, he was definitely the grandson of the fourth. There was no doubt in Itachi's mind. Kenji was smart and logical. Probably of Hyuuga decent. Taro, he knew was his nephew. A true, but twisted Uchiha. Headstrong, overly curious, and cocky. Itachi would have to keep an eye on him. And lastly there was Hiro. Gaara's son. He seemed to care about Tachi.

The sun was beginning to set, and the group made up camp. "We sleep for 6 hours, move for eighteen." Itachi instructed.

Hiro leaned against a tree and closed his eyes, deep in thought. He wondered why Itachi would resurface and protect his family after all of these years. Did he regret his decision to accept his last mission? Did he feel the need to redeem himself?

"What are you thinking about? You need to sleep." Itachi's deep voice broke into Hiro's thoughts.

Hiro didn't open his eyes. "If given the chance, would you do it over? Would you choose differently?"

"No." came Itachi's simple answer. "Why"

Hiro glanced in Itachi's general direction. "Aren't you supposed to be the Uchiha prodigy?"

"There's a difference between gifted and a mind reader."

"You know, you have an odd sense of humor for someone who's supposed to be stoic and emotionless." Hiro replied.

"I get that a lot."

"I bet you do."

"What's the relationship between you and my niece?"

"You sound like you've know her all her life." Hiro shut his eyes again.

"I was there the day she was born believe it or not. In fact, Sasuke attacked me in the hospital room. I believe I left him a bit confused, taking my leave."

_/Flashback/_

Itachi stared at the tiny baby's form. It's a shame he wasn't able to see his nephew as well. "Get away from her." Itachi didn't have to look in the direction of the voice to know it belonged to Sasuke. Obediently, Itachi took a step back from the child.

"If I was going to harm her, I would've done so already, Sasuke." Itachi said, taking his gaze off the girl long enough to glance at Sasuke.

"Why are you here?"

"Do I have no right to meet my niece?"

"You gave that right away when you slaughtered the entire clan!"

"Regardless, I'll be dropping in from time to time, make sure you're doing your paternal duties correctly." Itachi said.

"What are you talking about?"

"Congratulations, Sasuke." With that, Itachi poofed out in a puff of smoke, leaving Sasuke confused. Itachi watched from the window, silent and unseen. 'Good luck Sasuke.'

_/End Flashback/_

"Wow. That must've sucked." Hiro said, staring at his feet.

"Not really. In all honesty, Sasuke's parenting skills are much better than mine." Itachi leaned on a tree and looked up at the darkening sky.

"You have kids?" Hiro was shocked. _'I though this guy was like sixty!'_

"Just one. She's probably about as old as Tachi now… maybe a little older." Itachi shut his eyes.

"What happened to her?"

"She's staying at a safe house for now."

"Does she look like you?"

"If Uchiha's had blue hair." Hiro shuddered. "It was either that or Konan." Hiro stuck his tongue out. Itachi smirked. "Back to my original question, if you please."

"About my intentions with Tachi?"

"Aa."

"Well, the master plan is to get Sasuke to let me date her, marry her six months later and have a crap load of-"

"I get the picture." Itachi inwardly shuddered.

"I was gonna say kids." Hiro replied, laughing.

"That still takes a lot of…"

"Sex." Itachi nodded. Hiro laughed out loud.

"An S rank criminal can slaughter hundreds of people, but he can't say the word 'sex'?"

"It's not going to work." Itachi said, changing the subject.

"What?"

"Your plan."

"Why not?"

"I know my brother. He's not going to give in that easily. Why does he hate you so much?"

"You mean you don't know about the accident?" Hiro asked, looking at Itachi.

"I know about the accident. I was there." Itachi replied.

"You're good at hiding yourself."

"Continue."

"That's why Sasuke hates me. Because I'm the jinchuuriki that nearly killed his daughter." Hiro replied.

"And yet he lets Uzumaki and the Kazekage around her." Itachi shook his head. "My foolish little brother."

"That's our logic too."

"I get back to Konoha and get my crimes sorted out, I'll have to have a talk with my brother."

Hiro scoffed. "Good luck with that. Sasuke's a hard ass."

"Get some sleep Hiro." Itachi said, slipping his cloak off and placing it into the fire.

-x-x-x- Tsunade -x-x-x-

"I see. Shizune! Get me my sake! I'm getting my knives."

Naruto cringed. He had been going around making it known that Tachi was missing and he had finally reached the hospital. Tsunade was beyond pissed.

"B-but.. Don't you have a major surgery in the next hour, Lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked.

"Post pone it. Uchiha Tachi's gone missing and I'm going to keep watch for her. "NARUTO!" The blonde jumped. "Follow me." It was a shame he was hokage and yet, he was still being bossed around by the Fifth.

-x-x-x- Tachi -x-x-x-

Her body ached. She felt violated. And she wanted to go home. "Do you want a blanket Lady Uchiha?" Tanabi asked.

"Tanabi, I already told you. You don't have to call me 'Lady Uchiha'. Just Tachi. And thank you." Tachi said, taking the blanket and wrapping it around herself. "This place is insane. My rescue team comes, I'm taking you, Hideki and Sasame with me."

"Really?" Tachi nodded. Tanabi squeeled. "Did you hear that Hideki?" But Hideki was asleep.

**/AN: So I don't know when I'll be able to update again. I've major exams coming up. But I'll update as soon as I can! Review please!**


	23. Rescue Mission Part 2: Into the Lair

**/AN: Thanks to the reviewers! And yes, I realize Itachi is OOC. I can't write Itachi emotionless and stoic. It doesn't work. And my fight scenes suck... I apologize. **

**Chapter 22: Rescue Mission Part 2: Into the Lair.**

Rescue Mission Part 2: Into the Lair

-x-x-x- Hiro -x-x-x-

Hiro only got about three hours of sleep. Most of the morning was spent bickering with Taro, who got put in his place by Itachi. They left within fifteen minutes. They had been walking for what seemed like hours when Kenji said, "There's a lake up ahead, but the bridge is out."

"It'll take too long to go around." Renji replied, their byakugan activated.

"I'll figure it out when we get there." Itachi responded.

The group continued walking for another five minutes. And sure enough, the lake without a bridge appeared. "We need to conserve as much chakra as possible if we're going to be up against a sanin." Nanami said.

Itachi nodded and looked at the scene. There was water surrounding an island. The island had been formed on what looked like a rocky mountain without a top. It was about fifty feet up. There were large, thin slabs of wood floating in the water. Surprisingly they led over to the side of the mountain in five foot intervals as if someone had placed them there. Itachi noticed rungs jammed into the side of the mountain like monkey bars. "We're going to jump across the planks and then jump on to the little wooden rungs on the side of the mountain, over there." Itachi pointed. "I suggest we jump over one at a time."

Kenji volunteered to go first, deactivating his byakugan. He jumped on to the first block without a problem. The he proceeded to the next, the third and the fourth. He stood on the fourth slab for about a fourth of a second before jumping to hold onto the first rung,, proceeding to use then like monkey bars to get to the other side of the lake.

"OH! OH! ME NEXT! ME NEXT!" Renji yelled, not waiting for an answer. He jumped on the first block which flipped over at the sudden weight, sending Renji flying into the water. He resurfaced moments later. Itachi smacked his forehead. _'Definitely an Uzumaki.' _he thought.

"I'M OKAY!… I think." Renji pulled himself up on the slab, remembering to jump more gracefully. After flying into the lake once more, and loosing his balance twice, Renji finally tried to jump up to the rung, only to land face first on a rock.

"I'M OKAY!"

"Your friend's an idiot." Itachi said, to Taro.

"He's on Tachi's team." Taro said, jumping on the block, once Renji got on to the rungs. Taro and Hiro finished the course with ease, Itachi and Nanami following.

Hiro tried reaching Tachi again. He had tried reaching her earlier but no answer ever came. _'Tachi?'_

_ 'Hiro?' _Tachi's voice was breathy and ragged. _'Where are you?'_

_ 'Edge of Fire. We're almost there. Are you okay?' _Hiro responded.

_'They're torturing me and I don't know how much more I can take. How far away are you?'_

_ 'Hold on.'_ Hiro sighed, at least she was being honest with him. "Itachi! How far away are we?" Hiro asked as they jumped into the trees.

"Four point five miles. Why?"

"I finally reached Tachi. She says she's being tortured. We have to hurry!" Hiro replied.

"Pick up the pace!"

_'We're four and a half miles from sound. Do you know which base you're in?'_

_'No. Hiro, if something happens-"_

_ 'Tachi, don't start thinking like that! We're coming okay? Hold on, just hold on." _Hiro sped up ahead of the group.

_'I love you.' _Tachi told him regardless.

"Hiro! You can't just run into Sound territory like that!" Itachi grabbed a hold of Hiro's wrist. "We have to find the hid out first." Itachi turned to the rest of the team. "We should split up in two."

"Woe, woe, wait! Who died and made you team captain?" Taro asked, enraged.

"I'm the oldest and an Uchiha. Therefore, I'm team captain." Itachi replied. "Taro and Hiro will go with me. Renji and Kenji will go with Nanami. If you find anything call us. If you find the base, do not enter. Try and stay undetected until we arrive."

Hiro nodded as the two groups went their separate ways. "Why do I have to be paired up with you?"

"Do you want to find your sister or not? You know, I don't really like you either but I'd work with you for an eternity just to find Tachi. So. Shut. Up."

Taro shut his mouth instantly. "Are you done arguing?" Itachi asked.

"Hai."

"Let's move east. If my memory serves me well, there was an old abandoned shack about five miles from here." Itachi said, mostly to himself, jumping up into the trees.

"I thought we were searching for a hide out, not a shack." Hiro said, becoming agitated.

"The shack has a fake floor. The base would be underground." Taro said simply as they raced along the trees.

Finally, the group reached the shack. Hiro reached their destination first and kicked open the door. Itachi retreated into a back room, leaving Taro and Hiro to look around the small space. Itachi returned a few moments later, heading for the door.

By the time they had reached the next abandoned place, the sun had reached the highest peak in the sky.

"Dammit! We're running out of time!" Hiro his the wall with his fist.

"Have you tried calling her?" Taro asked also becoming worried, although he'd never show it.

"Yes! She never answered." Hiro plopped down on the cold stone floor, his head in his hands. Suddenly, Hiro was yanked up to his feet by the hair.

"Keep thinking like that and we'll never find her. You've got to keep thinking positive. Maybe Tachi took off the necklace."

"Tachi never took off the necklace! Ever! She loved it too much." And then, out of nowhere, Hiro was on the ground again on the other side of the room, holding his jaw, his lip leaking blood.

"You're talking about her as if she's already dead! Chances are the necklace was taken from her." Itachi extended a hand to Hiro.

Hiro looked at the hand and then to its owner. With a new found confidence, Hiro took Itachi's hand and was pulled to his feet. "Thanks. I needed that."

"Hn."

"I wouldn't celebrate too soon. Come look at this file I found." Taro said from the desk he had been standing at. Hiro wiped the blood from his chin and followed Itachi over to Taro.

Taro's hands were shaking. "Notes. Forbidden jutsu. Experiments. He's not torturing her to get information, he's torturing her to make her stronger. Orochimaru wants Tachi to be his next body!"

Itachi's eyes widened if only slightly. "We have to hurry." Itachi sped out of the building heading north, taking the file with him.

-x-x-x- Nanami -x-x-x-

"So… how long have you and Itachi been dating?" Renji asked.

"We're married." Nanami said.

"Okaaay… so how long have you been married?"

"Five years."

"Wow. That's a long time." Renji replied. "Any kids?"

"A girl."

"Oh. How old is she?" Nanami looked annoyed.

"Fifteen."

"What's her name?"

"Renka."

"Can I date her?"

"What is this, twenty questions?"

"Actually, yes." Renji replied.

Kenji sighed. "It's his way of getting to know people."

"Well it's annoying."

_'Nanami, we've found the base. What's your position?' _Itachi's voice rang loud and clear in Nanami's head.

_'Um… twenty degrees due west. Forty degrees due north.' _Nanami replied.

_'Move seventy degrees east. Twenty degrees north. Careful. The trees are swarming with sound nin.'_

"Let's go." Nanami sped up into the trees.

-x-x-x- Itachi -x-x-x-

When Nanami and the others finally arrived, Hiro was bouncing to go in. "This time we'll split up into groups of two. Taro will go with Hiro. Renji will go with Kenji, and I will be accompanying Nanami."

"Again! Why do you like pairing me up with him?" Taro asked Itachi.

"Frankly, because I like seeing you miserable."

"Seriously?"

"No." Itachi smirked.

"Um, Tachi? Kidnapped? Dying? Any of this ringing a bell?" Hiro asked, so anxious he couldn't see straight.

"Hiro's right. Try to avoid any battle. If you have to fight, take down anyone in your path, but be sure to get any information on Tachi if you can." Hiro nodded.

Thankfully there were only three patrolmen outside the base. Thanks to Itachi they were taken out easily.

Taro and Hiro took to the right corridor, while Renji and Kenji took the left corridor. Itachi and Nanami went around back.

"I bet you anything they're keeping her in the prisoner cells. That's where they were taken last time, her and…" Taro stopped, completely.

"It's a safe bet. You remember where it is?" Hiro asked.

"Not right off hand. Let's try down this way. Last time it was in the basement." Taro replied as they headed down a stairwell. A distant wail could be heard. Taro and Hiro smirked. "Found it!"

The two boys raced through rows and rows of cells none of them containing the middle Uchiha child.

"How are you gonna find her with all of these cells?" Hiro asked.

"We could yell for her." Taro suggested.

"And bring attention to ourselves? Smart move Uchiha." Hiro responded.

"We need back up."

-x-x-x- Kenji and Renji -x-x-x-

"It is so strange how silent this place is. I haven't heard a single thing since we entered." Kenji said.

"I know it's so creepy." Renji shuddered.

Suddenly, Taro's voice was clear in Kenji's head. _'Kenji, we need help. We think we've found where they're keeping Tachi. But we can't keep searching by ourselves. Can you and Renji meet us in the cell chamber?'_

_ 'Yeah. Where are you at?' _Kenji replied.

_'East side of the base. All the way down the corridor, there's a set of stairs. Head down them. If you hear screaming and smell death, you're there. Just start searching, after you've told us you've made it there without an issue.' _Taro replied.

_'Right.'_ Kenji looked to Renji. "Renji, let's go. Taro thinks he's found where they're keeping Tachi. Follow me." Renji nodded as he followed Kenji back through the hall. Just as the two were about to turn a corner, they heard a voice.

"I can't believe how they were killed! It's like they were just dreaming and died."

Kenji activated his byakugan and looked beyond the wall. Two sound ninja were coming around the corner. _'Move back slowly Renji. Don't make a lot of noise. Go!'_

Together they removed their headbands and began walking slowly back down the corridor.

"I know. It's so odd." The other said. "Hey! Who are you?" Renji and Kenji froze.

"We're new recruits for Lord Orochimaru." Kenji said, thinking quickly.

"Names?" One asked.

"Yoru Nakamura and Ishin Nakamura." Renji said.

"Where are your sound bands?"

Suddenly, Kenji whipped out a kunai from his sleeve, Renji doing the same. The two sound nin were dead in a matter of seconds. "Let's go before more come and we don't end up so lucky." Kenji said, following Renji down the hall way.

-x-x-x- Itachi and Nanami -x-x-x-

"So what are we doing?"

"Looking for Orochimaru. I'm going to end his reign of tyranny once and for all." Itachi said, running through the dark tunnels. _'Like I should've done a long time ago.'_

**/AN: Review please!**


	24. Rescue Mission Part 3: Redemption

**/AN: Thanks to the reviewers! Enjoy! **

**Chapter 23: Rescue Mission Part 3: Redemption**

-x-x-x- Itachi and Nanami -x-x-x-

Itachi and Nanami ran through the dim, torch lit tunnel. Itachi knew where the snake was hiding. It was the same place every hide out. He should know. It was the same way when he was in Akatsuki. Always the center room. Always at the height of the building.

-x-x-x- Kenji and Renji -x-x-x-

The two cousins reached the cell chamber in record time, not wanting to run into anymore sound nin. _'Taro, we made it in. Have you had any luck finding Tachi?' _Kenji asked.

_'None at all.'_

"Alright, let's start looking for her. And quickly. The longer we stay her, the greater the risk of us getting discovered." Renji nodded as they passed countless cells of muddled, deformed beings, none of them holding Tachi.

-x-x-x- Hiro and Taro -x-x-x-

_'Tachi, can you hear me?' _Hiro asked.

_'Hiro…' _Tachi's voice came out ragged and weak. _'I'm back in the cells. But Sasame doesn't know enough medical nin jutsu to heal me and my chakra's really low. I can't… hold on much longer.'_

_ 'Alright, just hold on a little longer okay? Can you tell what cell you're in?'_

_ 'Five-forty-eight.'_

_ 'Okay I'll be there soon.' _Hiro paused. _'Renji, Kenji! Tachi's cell is five-forty-eight. Hurry!'_

Taro looked up. They were on the third floor of cells. Hiro looked at the cell beside them. Two-forty-seven. Three floors. He didn't know where Kenji and Renji were but they had to hurry.

"Five-forty-eight. Let's go." Together the two boys charged down the steps.

-x-x-x- Tachi -x-x-x-

She was fading fast, and she knew it. There was nothing Sasame could do for injuries such as this. Blood was gushing from a gash in the side of her head from when she had been tossed up against a wall. Her wrists had been rubbed raw, through skin where she had been bound. The bones in her foot had been smashed into a million pieces by Kabuto's foot. She had been stabbed twice in the chest and once in the stomach. Crimson life force was draining quickly from too many places in her body. Her sight had faded and she didn't have enough energy to move anymore.

"Tachi!" She could hear Hiro's voice in her head but she didn't have enough chakra to respond.

"I'm sorry, my skills aren't advanced enough-" Sasame?

"No, it's okay. You did your best."

-x-x-x- Itachi and Nanami -x-x-x-

"So wonderful to see you, after all these years, Uchiha Itachi. What brings you into my domain?" Orochimaru sat on his throne.

"My niece." The simple answer came.

"What about her?" Orochimaru smirked.

"You took her. I want her back. I want you dead."

"If you want her, you'll have to fight me for her." Orochimaru snapped his fingers and Kabuto came out of the shadows.

"Nanami." Itachi shifted his gaze to his partner.

"Right." Nanami nodded and engaged in battle with Kabuto. Itachi looked back to the snake in front of him.

Itachi's body, cracked and separated into thirty ravens, leaving Orochimaru dazed and confused. Itachi reappeared behind the throne, decapitated him in one swift movement. "That's for my brother, Tachi and Taro." Next, he spit fire from his mouth setting the body aflame. "And that's for my redemption."

Nanami snaked her arms around Itachi's waist. "Our job here is done."

"Hey! Love birds! Either of you know medical nin jutsu? Tachi's literally dying over here!" Itachi looked up. Hiro's shirt was covering in Tachi's blood. Tachi was slumped over in Hiro's arms bridal style. Taro had a young girl on his back around the ages of three and four. Kenji held a young boy about the same age. A girl a little younger than Tachi rode piggy back on Renji's back.

"My medical nin jutsu is limited. I can't heal something like this." Nanami said.

"We need to hurry if we're going to save her." Itachi said. As the group left, Taro stayed behind looking at the damage. He looked at the sleeping girl on his back and sighed.

"Uchiha Taro." Taro froze. "The jinchuuriki is a danger to your sister. You know it."

"How do you know that? Who are you?"

"I am an Uchiha. Just as you. If you really want to protect your sister, you must destroy Hiro. I can help you do it."

"How do you know this?"

"I've been watching you for a while. Do you want my help or not?"

"Anything to protect my sister."

"Meet me at the gate of Konoha two days from tomorrow. I'll tell you what to do there. Tell anyone and you die."

"Of course."

"Taro!" Renji's voice came from the corridor. When Taro looked back to the shadows, the figure had gone. "Coming." he told Renji.

-x-

They ran. They ran for hours, Tachi's life slipping away minute by minute. Hiro ran full speed ahead of the group. Finally around sunrise, Hiro saw the Konoha gates. He ran through them, ignoring the Anbu guards, heading straight for Konoha hospital and straight through the doors. "Hey! I need a doctor! Somebody!" Finally a team of doctors plus Tsunade came running through two double doors.

Tsunade looked to Hiro, who was on his knees. "You did good kid."

"Don't stand around thanking me, save her."

"Uchiha Itachi. You are under arrest under charges of treason, the extermination of a powerful clan, and affiliations with forbidden organizations." Naruto stood in front of the group, that had appeared behind Hiro.

"Call me what you want, but I ditched Akatsuki a while ago. However, I'll take your charges. Let's go Nanami." Itachi said as Anbu placed chakra restraints around their wrists.

"Dude! Wait! Itachi's innocent! It was a mission!" Renji said running up to Naruto.

"What are you talking about, Renji?"

"Itachi, where's the mission file?"

"Back pocket of my back pack." Itachi said.

"Renji what are you doing? He's dangerous!"

"He helped us save Tachi, and he killed Orochimaru and Kabuto! Without him, we would've had more casualties!" Kenji said, as Renji handed Naruto Itachi's mission file.

Naruto's eyes widened as Kakashi popped up behind him. "Kakashi popped up behind him. "Kakashi, get me Sasuke and Sakura. Fast."

-x-x-x- Uchiha House Hold -x-x-x-

Sasuke sat with his head in his hands, at the table. Sakura sat next to him, staring at Suichiro's pink hair. Kakashi popped up behind Sasuke. "Sasuke, Naruto wants you inn his office. Immediately."

"Did they find Tachi? Is she okay?"

"Tachi's still in the operating room. She's in critical condition, but this is more than just Tachi Sasuke. This is life changing." Kakashi replied.

"Sweet Kami. She's pregnant isn't she? I swear, I'm gonna rip that kid's balls off."

Sakura choked on the tea she was drinking. "I don't think she's pregnant Sasuke. You can leave Hiro's reproductive organs alone. And this isn't about Tachi."

"Then what?"

"I'm not sure I'm the one who should tell you."

-x-x-x- Naruto's Office -x-x-x-

"After hearing this… I don't know what to think. The file is real, but… the killing of Orochimaru and Kabuto. And the rescue of three other children plus Tachi…" Naruto paused. "I think if-"

"Dear sweet Kami… Naruto what is going through your pea brained mind?"

**/AN: So I know the killing of Orochimaru is a little brief. I'm really sorry about that. It was the best I could do. Hopefully, I'll post another chapter later today or tomorrow. If not, Later next week. In the next chapter we find out what happened on the day of Tachi's 6th birthday all those years ago! Review please!**


	25. Reinstated

**/AN: Okay, so I'm pretty sure this is the longest chapter I've ever written! Behold:**

**Chapter 24: Reinstated.**

"Sasuke, it's not what you think! Itachi's innocent!"

"The man that made my life hell is innocent? How so Naruto? Please explain to me this madness!"

_/Flashback/_

_ A thirteen year old Itachi sat in the chair in the hokage's office. He was dressed in his uniform Anbu garb, his eyes cold and emotionless. "I accept." In front of him, stood the third hokage, Danzo, and the two other elders, Koharu and Homura._

_ "Itachi, you do understand what we're asking of you?" The third asked._

_ "Perfectly." Danzo's face darkened._

_ "Sarutobi, his eyes. He's planning something. He's too young for a mission such as this. Just get someone else to do it!" Danzo exclaimed._

_ "I'm not planning a thing. But I do have an exception for the mission." Itachi replied._

_ "Go on, Itachi."_

_ "My brother, Sasuke." _

_ "What about the boy?" Homura asked._

_ "I refuse to kill him."_

_ "What are you talking about? Everyone must be disposed of, Uchiha. Lest it defeats the purpose of the mission." Koharu said, enraged._

_ "Everyone except Sasuke. I refuse. If you don't like it, find someone else to do your mission. They can kill me as well. I'll protect Sasuke with my life." Itachi stood, pulling his mask over his face. It resembled a weasel. Itachi headed for the door._

_ "Danzo no one else is fit for the job. We send someone else, we fail." Sarutobi said in a panic, watching the young Uchiha leave._

_ Itachi had his hand on the door knob now. "We accept your condition." Itachi paused._

_ "Good to know. One other thing, Sarutobi. Koharu. Homura. Danzo," He saved the worst for last, "If you lay one finger on Sasuke's head after I'm gone, I won't hesitate to come back and kill all four of you."_

_ "Is that a threat?" Homura asked, angered._

_ "No. It's a promise." Itachi said, leaving. Sasuke's fate was now assured. The council members wouldn't dare harm Sasuke in anyway. They were too afraid to and he knew it._

_-x-_

_ "Mother. Father." Itachi raised his katana._

_ "Itachi." Fugaku looked his son in the eyes. He would accept his fate, with dignity, taking his son's secret to the grave._

_ "I'm proud of you, Itachi. Even if this is how it ends." Mikoto smiled. "I'm happy that you'll be the last thing I see in this world."_

_ "Keep an eye on Sasuke." Fugaku and Mikoto nodded as Itachi gave the final blow._

_-x-_

_ Itachi ran. His eyes closed. It was done. He left Sasuke alive. He sighed. The look in his brother's eyes. Shock. Confusion. Hate. Things would never be the same again. He knew that. Itachi decided that every mission Akatsuki gave him, he would go to Konoha and check up on Sasuke and make sure the council members remembered his promise. In the end, when Sasuke finally managed to kill him, he would tell his baby brother the truth and be able to die a happy man. A single tear slid down Itachi's cheek as he finally reached Madara's rendezvous point._

_/End Flashback/_

"If you'll excuse me, I need to go look for something." Naruto lied, slipping out of the room.

Itachi and Sasuke were silent for a good while.

"Why?" Itachi lifted his eyes to see Sasuke's confused face. He couldn't remember a time when Sasuke hadn't been prepared to attack him. "Why did you do it?"

"Sasuke, I-"

"You had a choice! So why did you choose the one that destroyed us all?"

Itachi hesitated. "If I hadn't done it, and Anbu team would've been sent to do so. I felt it better to do it myself than to have someone else do it." Itachi explained, his voice low.

"Then why didn't you kill me too? Why did you let me suffer?"

"Because I couldn't bring myself to kill my baby brother! I refused. I made sure you were kept alive."

"Do you know what I went through after you did that? Why didn't you just tell me the truth? I would've understood. Why did you feel the need to lie to me?"

"I lied to protect you, Sasuke. Nobody was supposed to know about the mission."

"Then why did you join Akatsuki? Why did this have to happen?" Sasuke collapsed in a chair, his head in his hands.

"Madara promised me a place to go. I couldn't stay in Konoha, because then I wouldn't have been able to keep an eye on you, or make sure the elders kept their promise."

"So you're innocent?"

"Aa."

"Does that mean abandoning Sakura and Naruto was for nothing?"

"Hn."

"How so?"

"You got stronger there didn't you?"

"Aa. So then why did you attack Naruto, when he first went off with Jaraiya?"

Itachi sat down beside him. "Orders. I never actually harmed him, did I?"

"Because I Intervened."

"Details, details."

"I won't ever trust you like I did before." Sasuke said, out of the blue.

"I wouldn't expect you to. I already knew this wouldn't change much." Itachi said.

"So what happens now?" Sasuke asked, looking at Itachi.

"I believe I can answer that!"

"Naruto, that was a private conversation." Sasuke growled.

"Now, considering that Itachi committed many crimes, he also did many good deeds. Let's go over them shall we?"

Itachi and Sasuke nodded.

-x-x-x- Hiro -x-x-x-

Hiro sat by Tachi's bed, holding her pale, lifeless hand to his lips, tears flowing freely down his cheeks. It was all his fault. Everything. Every time he was around her, she got hurt.

Hiro had been first allowed in to see her because Sasuke was talking with Naruto and no one knew where Sakura was. He had been told that Tachi was stable, but due to the gash in her head and all of the blood loss, Tsunade had to bring her into a chemically induced coma.

_/Flashback/_

_Hiro walked into the kitchen. The sand storm had ended and Suna expected rain and a lot of it. Chihiro had apparently been there a while before him. "Alright. Listen up you two. Especially you Hiro. I think this might effect you most of all."_

_ "Okay then. Talk to us. What's up?" Hiro asked._

_ Gaara paused for a moment. "Two leaf nin recently died a few months ago and they don't have enough nin to replace the two they lost. So Naruto has asked me if you two would want to go to Konoha and be replacements on two of their genin teams."_

_ "So how does this effect me?" Hiro asked._

_ "If you were to accept you'd be teamed with Uchiha Taro. Chihiro would be on an all female team."_

_ Hiro's eyes widened slightly, his movements becoming awkward. "Um, Tachi… is she…?"_

_ "Yes Hiro. She's a genin but she's on a different team." Gaara replied._

_ "O-okay then."_

_ Gaara could tell his son was bothered. "Do you accept the mission?"_

_ Chihiro's response was strong and immediate. Hiro's came out as a shaky whisper. With that, the group dispersed and Hiro fled to the safety and comfort of his room. Gaara followed him to make sure his son was okay. The door was opened but he knocked anyway. "Yeah?" came the meek answer._

_ "You okay?"_

_ "If freaking out is considered 'okay', then yes, I'm just peachy." Hiro was sitting on his bed, running a hand through his flaming hair._

_ "What are you so worried about Hiro? It's not like she's going to remember you." Gaara replied._

_ "That's what I'm afraid of." Hiro said, heading for his bathroom. He turned the cold water on and ran his hand under the faucet, splashing water on his face. When that wasn't enough, he stuck his head under the running water._

_ Gaara raised a brow. "Forgive me if I'm confused." Hiro turned off the faucet, shaking his head like a dog._

_ "What if she sees me and her memories return? Then what?" Hiro asked letting the extra water drip from the ends of his hair onto his face._

_ "Then we wing it. Do what we did last time. Even if it kills her." Gaara replied._

_ "Lovely solution, Dad. 'Oh, hey, it'll kill her but let's wing it!' Perfect. My ex is gonna die just from looking at me."_

_ "First Hiro, I don't think you can actually call her your 'ex' since you never really dated. Second, I'm sure she won't die from looking at you. You're over reacting."_

_ "But you don't know that for sure! Kami, just leave me alone!" Hiro summoned Sand and pushed his father out of he room._

_-x-_

_ It had been three weeks since Hiro and Chihiro had moved to Konoha. Luckily, he hadn't seen head nor tail of Tachi. He kicked the post again. "You're going to break your foot like that." Hiro turned around to see Chihiro. "Tou-san wants us in the hokage's office." Hiro nodded, picking up his shirt from the ground, throwing it over his should, following Chihiro out of the training grounds._

_-x-_

_ They had been waiting for about ten minutes. Naruto couldn't get over how much Chihiro and hiro had grown in the past two years. And then a black haired girl came into the room, followed by a Naruto mini-me, and a brown haired boy that had his shoulder length hair swept back. The girl stepped forward. "Hokage-sama. Tou-san. Kazekage-sama." she gave them all a respectful bow._

_ "Old man! Watcha need us for?" The blond stood in front of the girl now. She hit him over the head._

_ "Baka ne! Show the hokage respect, dobe!"_

_ Hiro watched as the mini-me cowered in fear. "He's my dad! He's used to it, Tachi-sama!" Hiro's heart thumped in his chest. So this was Tachi all grown up._

_ "So now he shows respect. No offence Hokage-sama, but your son's an idiot." the brunette said, pinching the bridge of his nose._

_ Naruto smiled. "No offence taken, Kenji." A crash was heard and Hiro's attention averted to the fight._

_ "I don't care if he was your great grand father's bunion! You should still show respect to your hokage!" _

'Note to self: Never anger Tachi.'_ Hiro thought. He watched as Tachi threw the screaming kid into Naruto's desk._

_ "Sometimes I swear she has more of a temper than her mother." Sasuke said out loud._

'Wow. First thing he's said since I entered the room.'

_ "Gomen Naruto. Just take it out of her check."_

_ Naruto sat in his chair in the same position. "Don't sweat it Sasuke-teme. Just discipline your daughter will yah?"_

_ "Uchiha Tachi!" _

_ Two other people entered the room, one of them being Taro. The other was a girl. "What did Tachi-nii-chan do now?" Taro opened his closed eyes. "Kuso."_

_ "Taro, watch your mouth." Sasuke said, with a glare._

_ "Sure, Tou-san." Taro surveyed the damage. "Did Tachi do this?" The blonde on the floor nodded painfully. "Impressive."_

_ "Taro, you sister is really strong. It's almost scary." The girl beside him said quietly._

_ "Aniki, what're you doing here?" Taro asked, abandoning her vengeance on the blonde._

_ "I could ask you the same thing, Tachi-nii-chan."_

_ "Taro-chibi. Tachi-chan. Focus!" Now that Hiro thought about it, Taro did look like a clone of Sasuke._

_ Two girls entered next. Another blonde and a brunette._

_ "Okay, now that we're all here, I'll let Gaara take over." Naruto said._

_ Gaara nodded. Hiro tuned out his dad and took in everybody in the room. Then, he noticed Tachi staring at him. _'That's good at least she didn't burst into flames.'_ he thought. Then he noticed Taro glaring at him. Fine. If that's how he wanted to play it… Hiro glared back._

_ "Okay, training at three people." Naruto said. What? It was over already? The group was already dispersing. Hiro left, careful not to touch anyone._

_ Hiro felt a hand on his shoulder as he went down the steps of the hokage tower. He looked back to see his father. "See that wasn't so bad." Gaara smirked._

_ "I think I just wet myself." Hiro replied. Gaara laughed out loud._

_/End Flashback/_

Even then Hiro thought Tachi was beautiful. Her shoulder length black, silky hair, her dark ever green eyes, her porcelain alabaster skin and her full soft red lips. Kami, she was perfect in every way possible.

Looking at Tachi now, broke Hiro's heart. She looked fragile and broken. She had gauze wrapped around her head to stifle any extra blood leaking from the gash in her head. Her lips were busted and bruised. Her foot was wrapped in a lime green cast. He couldn't see the other wounds on her body because of her clothing. But he knew they were there, none the less.

_/Flashback/_

_ A seven year old Hiro stood in the middle of a mirror. He was totally ready for this. Finally he was meeting the girl he was supposed to marry someday. He had been told not to say anything to her. He didn't know why, but he knew it was important. Gaara lifted his son onto his shoulders and walked to their destination: the team seven training grounds. The two reached there in no time, Chihiro following behind them._

_ Sasuke greeted them as Gaara set Hiro on his feet. "Moment of truth, huh?" Sasuke said to Gaara who nodded._

_ Sasuke called over Tachi. The six year old Tachi looked a little different than the older one. Her hair was shorter and pinned back with a tiny clip. Her eyes were a little darker and her cheeks a little rosier. To add to it, her hair was a little redder. Hiro stepped toward Tachi. "Hello, I'm Hiro." He said a little timidly, extending a hand._

_ Tachi took Hiro's hand cheerily. "I'm Tachi! Today's my sixth birthday!" Tachi toyed with her blue dressy shirt._

_ "Happy birthday then."_

_ "Arigato. So where are you from?" Tachi asked._

_ "Suna. The desert area." Hiro replied._

_ "How old are you?"_

_ "Seven."_

_ "Eh. It just depends. Um, you know you're still shaking my hand, right?" Hiro asked, smiling._

_ Tachi pulled her hand away quickly, tucking it behind her back. "Oops. Sorry. I didn't mean- I mean I didn't-"_

_ "It's cool. Don't worry about it." Hiro said. The two were silent for a while._

_ "Hey you wanna come meet some of my friends?" Tachi asked, her eyes lighting up._

_ "Yeah, okay." Tachi took Hiro's hand and led him over to a group of kids around the same age._

_ "Hey guys! This is Hiro!" Around him, he saw a group of seven kids. "He's from Suna and seven years old!" Tachi said. Many different variations of hello were heard. "Hiro this is Inuzuka Kazu." Hiro looked at a small boy with spiky brown hair and brown eyes. On his cheeks were weird, red, upside down triangles._

_ "Yo." Kazu said, a slight glare on his face._

_ "This is Inuzuka Riki, Kazu's twin sister." Hiro glanced over to a brown haired girl with pig tails. Her eyes were brown and she had the same strange triangles on her cheeks._

_ "This is Hyuuga Kenji." Hiro again averted his gaze to see a boy with longer brown hair and pale violet eyes._

_ "Hi." came Kenji's simple answer._

_ "I'm Uzumaki-Hyuuga Renji! Believe it! Nice to meet yah!" A boy with blonde hair and blue eyes stepped forward._

_ "Hello." Hiro said._

_ "The quiet on over there is Naara Kana." Renji said._

_ "I'm not quiet! I'm just a little shy okay?" a girl with long blonde hair pulled up in a pony tail bonked Renji on the head. Hiro noticed her bold blue eyes._

_ "While they're fighting, I'll go ahead and introduce myself. I'm Hyuuga Hikari, Kenji's sister." Hiro nodded._

_ "The last one is my brother, Taro." Tachi said._

_ Taro looked at Hiro, his face bright an happy. The young Uchiha waved._

_ "Do you have any siblings?" Tachi asked._

_ "I have a twin sister named Chihiro. But I don't know where she is." Hiro said looking around._

_ "Hey! Renji wants to know if you want to play freeze tag?" Kazu asked._

_ "Yeah, sure! Sounds fun." Tachi replied._

_ "Alright, lets pick teams." Taro said._

_ "Who's team captain?" Renji asked._

_ "I nominate Tachi!" Riki said, pointing in Tachi's general direction._

_ "I second!" Kazu replied. The others agreed._

_ "Okay so who's the other team captain?" Tachi asked. Nobody said anything._

_ "I'll be team captain!" Taro said. Everybody agreed, and the team picking commenced. "I'll take Riki." The girl cheered and went over to Taro's side._

_ "Hiro's on my team!" Tachi said. Hiro smiled but noticed Kazu's glare._

'Why is he glaring at me all the time? What did I ever do to him?'_ Hiro thought._

_ "Hey can I play?" Hiro looked to where the voice came from. Chihiro._

_ "Who are you?" Renji asked._

_ "She's my sister, Chihiro." Hiro said._

_ "Okay. Yeah you can play. But we already picked team captains." Hikari said. Chihiro nodded._

_ "Okay, um… Kenji." Taro said._

_ "I pick Renji!" Tachi kept the picking going._

_ "Kazu!"_

_ "Chihiro!"_

_ "So it comes down to the hyperactive athlete and the hyper active ditz. Lessee…" Taro mocked thinking. "Hyperactive athlete! You're up!"_

_ "Aw! Why do I always get picked last?" Kana whined._

_ "Because you start crying if you break a nail." Hikari said._

_ "Hey I gotta look good don't I?"_

_ "So how do you play freeze tag?" Hiro asked._

_ Renji bugged. "Are you kidding me?" Hiro shook his head._

_ "Okay, it's like tag. You do know how to play tag, right?" Taro asked. Hiro nodded. "Okay, it's like that, but if you get tagged, you have to freeze until someone comes up and tags you again."_

_ "Seems easy enough."_

_ "Good. AWRIGHT! Base is the middle post. My team's it! Go!"_

_ For a split second, nobody moved. And then Kazu pushed Hiro over leaving him frozen on the ground._

'Okay… this kid has serious issues.' _Hiro thought._

_ And then as if getting perfect revenge, Hiro watched Tachi tackle Kazu to the ground. "That wasn't very nice!" She said._

_ "I thought we were playing freeze tag, not football!" Kana said, a blank look on her face._

_ Jumping up from a frozen Kazu, Tachi ran over to Hiro and tagged him, instantly unfreezing him. Finally freed, Hiro ran at the first person he saw, which just happened to be Kenji. "Aw, this bites."_

_ Hikari ran for Kenji, unfreezing him. Hiro paused and saw Taro pounce on Tachi. The mini jinchuuriki ran for Tachi, gently tapping her arm._

_ A blood curdling scream was heard. Everybody stopped. Time seemed to move in slow motion, as Hiro realized his grave mistake. He hadn't felt the demon's chakra gaining power._

_ "Tachi, are you okay?" Kana asked timidly._

_ "Dude, what's up with Hiro?" Kazu asked. Everyone looked at Hiro. The circles around his eyes had darkened and spread to form a mask around his eyes, like a raccoon. There was a red, angry, aura emitting from his body, that screamed evil._

_ Al at once Hiro was surrounded by people. Hiro could see a pink haired lady standing over Tachi, who was now on the ground, still screaming. "What's wrong with her, Sakura?" Sasuke asked, beginning to panic._

_ "I can't tell! Someone get me a cloth or something!" Sakura yelled over her shoulder._

_ "Will a sock work?" Naruto asked, holding a nasty looking sock in his hand._

_ "It'll have to. She's seizing."_

_ "Hiro hold still!" Gaara was gripping his son, trying to get him to calm down. Hiro hadn't realized he was screaming Tachi's name._

_ "Nothing's working! She's going into cardiac arrest!"_

_ "Tsukiyomi…" Sasuke mumbled._

_ "Sasuke, no!"_

_ "We don't have any other choice Sakura!" Before, Sakura could say anything else, Sasuke, activated the sharingan and all was silent._

_/End Flashback/_

Hiro blacked out after that. Slowly, he became aware that a nurse was checking on Tachi's vitals. He moved to get out of her way. "Sorry." He mumbled.

"You're fine. You know you've been here almost four hours. Don't you think you should go home and eat something? Maybe wash up, get some rest?" The nurse asked.

"I'm not leaving until she wakes up. Even if it's months from now." Hiro replied.

"That's sweet of you. But you must be hungry. Can I at least get you something to eat?"

Hiro hesitated but his stomach betrayed him with rumbles. The nurse laughed and left to get him some food. She stopped in the doorway and said, "My name's Michiko by the way."

Hiro nodded. "Hiro."

-x-x-x- Hokage Tower -x-x-x-

Naruto looked down at Itachi's file. "Crimes committed: over 100 counts of murder; all Uchiha. Association with s-ranked criminals and a forbidden organization. Attempted kidnap of the nine tailed jinchuuriki… I think I might let that one slide-"

"What?"

"Oh, come on, Sasuke! No one got hurt!"

"Says you."

"That was your fault for barging in like that!" Naruto replied.

"I was trying to save you dumb ass!"

"I was doing perfectly fine on my own!"

"Only because Jaraiya came in."

"Can we please get on with the charges?" Itachi asked, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Right. One count of rogue ninja, and another count of missing ninja. And lastly, a charge of the corruption of said little brother's mind: a minor misdemeanor."

"Is that even a crime?"

"It is in my book. On to the good counts! Aiding in the rescue of four minors, Assassination of two s-ranked criminals, and acceptance or charges. The rescue of the minors cancels out the kidnapping charge. Acceptance of charges, the tortured brother charge. The assassinations cancel out twenty five of the murder charges. Which means you're crimes now stand at seventy five murder charges. And since it turns out it was a mission, the only murder charges I'm leaving you with are your parent's murder. So two counts of premeditated murder, the rogue and missing ninja charges and association with s-ranked criminals and forbidden organizations. Your sentence: six months house arrest, eight-thousand-seven-hundred-sixty hours of community service, no missions unless s-ranked, and six years of probation. Break any of these rules, and you will be sentenced to death. Understood?"

"Aa."

"Good. Oh and Sasuke?"

"Yes?"

"You have a new mission. S-ranked."

"What?"

"Keep your brother and his wife at your house until his house arrest is up, would you?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Speaking of Nanami, what are her charges?" Nanami had been placed in a holding cell at the Konoha jail since no one knew who she was.

"Same as yours. By the way, with house arrest, I will allow you to roam around Konoha as long as you have someone of Uchiha decent or a ninja level jonin or higher with you. Any questions?"

"No. But I do have one request.' Naruto looked up. "My daughter, Renka will be arriving soon. She's never been to an actual ninja academy, but she's chuunin level. Would she be able to take the chuunin exams as a leaf?"

"Before she does that, she'd have to take the genin test. I wouldn't require her to go through the entire academy. When will she be here?"

"Some time tonight?"

"Alright then. I'll notify Kotetsu and let him know to send her my way." Itachi nodded and turned to leave with Sasuke. "Itachi." said Uchiha turned to look at the hokage. Naruto pulled out something blue and shiny. "You might be needing this." Naruto threw the blue shiny thing at Itachi, who caught it. A Konoha head band.

Itachi looked back to Naruto with grateful eyes.

**/AN: Please tell me what you think! Review please!**


	26. IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE

**AUTHORS NOTE: Hey all. So I know its been a while since I've updated. . like a long while. I could give you a whole bunch of excuses, but I know you'd all rather know what's going on with this story. So. I have good news and bad news.**

**THE BAD NEWS: I started this story when I first started highschool. When I started it, I had no idea what the plot was going to be like. At all. I just knew I wanted to do a second generation fanfic. I'm about to graduate. My writing style has changed drastically since I started writing this story. And if I tried to write more of it now... well, it wouldn't make any sense. And in reality, when I go back and read this story, there are parts that don't add up and there's plot holes everywhere and unfortunately, the way the story is written at this second, I have no idea how to even begin to fix them. I also kinda want to go in a different direction with it. **

**THE GOOD NEWS: This DOES NOT MEAN THAT I'M DISCONTINUEING THIS STORY. Quite the opposite actually. Although, you may have to wait to see what happens between Taro, Tachi, and Hiro. So remember at the beginning of this story when I said I was thinking about doing a prequel? No? Well, I started a prequel. And it's not going to be the regular canon story line. As I said, it's going to lead Time Lines – which I'm going to rename because at the time, I couldn't think of a better name for it – in a completely DIFFERENT direction... sorta. I'm not going to tell you how exactly because that would ruin the prequel, wouldn't it? ;) **

**MOST IMPORTANTLY: The main plot line won't deter too much from the way it is now. Sasuke will still hate Hiro and Itachi will still think his brother is a dumb ass. Lol. Anyway. A few of the characters or character names may change because I'm not very satisfied with them at this point, but there won't be very many MAJOR changes. Just minor details. And the rating will most likely change from T to M...**

**SO WHAT HAPPENS NOW?: Now, I'm currently writing the prequel entitled: "Runaway Love". While I'm writing the prequel I'll keep "Time Lines" up until I get the NEW "Time Lines" up – I don't know what I'm titling it yet. And of course this won't happen until "Runaway Love" is completed. **

**As always I hope you guys go check out the prequel, "Runaway Love" and leave a review. If you guys decide to drop this story entirely and never read it again, I'll understand completely. But I gotta stay hopeful, right? Anyway, thanks for the support, guys. :)**

**-Kit**


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